Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-19
MOTOR|ST is HELD
! FOR JURY IN DEATH
OF POLICEMAN.
F. L. Lanoir to Face Action
in Crash Fatal to
W. S. Buchanan.
AUT0IST IN COLLISION
is RELEASED ON BAIL
Fellow Officer Testifes Indications
Pointed to Avoidance Of
Accident.

NAOA ~. 1dAlOAt, 60 yCdIS OlQ. vi
Fifth street, whose machine figured in
the collision last night in which Motor
Cycle Policeman william Shirley
Buchanan, 26-year-old policeman of
the tenth precinct, was killed, was today
held by coroner's jury for the action
OF the grand jury. Lanoir was taken
to Police Court in the custody of his
attorney and Capt. Ira Sheets, COM
handing the tenth precinct, and later
released on bond.
Testimony leading up to the fatal ac-
cident related how Buchanan, who was
answering an emergency call on his mo-
tor cycle on Allison street, was in COL
lision at the intersection of Seventh
street and New Hampshire avenue with
the car driven by Lanoir.
James B. Jones, fellow officer Of the
dead policeman at the tenth precinct,
testified that the position of the ma
chine and the motor cycle at the scene
OF the accident following the collision
indicated that the accident might have
been avoided had Lanoir. given the mo-
tor cycle policeman the right of way.
Lanoir. who took the stand in his own
defense. said that he was driving at a
moderate rate of speed and did not be-
lieve he was exceeding Is miles an hour
at the time of the crash. He said he
did not see the policeman nearing him
at a high rate of speed on the motor
cycle until it was too late to do any,
thing about it.
He said he jammed on his brakes
when it became apparent that a crash
was imminent and swerved his car
sharply to the left, thinking the officer
might dodge in back of his automobile
Lanoir said that the next thing he
Iva Rtak Il
struck his car and he threw his hands
over his face in order to avoid being
seriously cut by flying glass.
The boisterousness and laughter so
common at police station was lacking
at No. 10 this morning and there was
not an officer or private but had
word of praise for his former friend
and OF regret at his death.
buchanan was one of the best men
in the precinct" Capt. Sheetz said to-
day. He was honest, efficient and fear
less and when he was told to do thing.
he always went at 1t willingly and
cheerfully'
Buchanan was to have been married
May Is to Miss Madeline Stoner Of
4018 Seventh street. The accident
occurred within a block of her home,
where she was at the time. She hur-
ried to Garfield Hospital, where
Buchanan was taken. but he was dead.
The shock was so great that the young
woman had to be returned to her
home and physician summoned. To-
day she was Frustrated.
The right side of the auto was stove
in and the motor cycle was left mass
of tangled wreckage. Buchanan was
thrown against the car. His head was
crushed and his right leg broken. La
noir tried to open the right front door
but found it damned. He climbed over
the seat and clambered out through
the rear door. He tried to extricate
Buchanan from the debris, but before
he had succeeded in doing so, Sergt.
Nelson o. Holmes, who was nearby and
had heard the crash, arrived. AS the
men were extricating Buchanan. the
tenth precinct patrol, returning from the
same call to which Buchanan was re-
spending. reached the scene.
Pvts. James E. Lowery and Thomas
ODonnell. who were in the patrol,
hailed a passing truck and rushed Bu-
chanan to the hospital. He was pro-
nounced dead upon arrival.
Lanoir Released.
Lanoir was taken to the tenth pre-
cinct, questioned and then released in,
the custody of his attorney. Joseph
Kelly, to appear at the coroners In
quest. Lanoir sustained several cuts
about the face from broken glass and
was treated at Garfield Hospital
The call to which Buchanan was
responding was a telephone message
from woman in the 400 block Of Al
lison street, who said her husband was
threatening her with a revolver. 1t de-
veloped that the husband and wife
were quarreling. but there was no gun
in the house, police reported.
Buchanan saw the patrol pass and
another officer with him called the
station house and was directed to send
Buchanan to the place. !,
Surviving the officer are his father,
DR.. Robert E. Buchanan; his mother,
Mrs. Loretta Buchanan, with whom he
lived at 835 Allison street; three
brothers, Charles A. and Eldred H.
Buchanan of the Allison street address,
and e. A. Buchanan. who lives on
Eighteenth street near California, and
two sisters, Octo L. and Elizabeth
Buchanan, who live with their parents.
Funeral arrangements are awaiting
the arrival in the city today of DR..
Buchanan.
Eldred Buchanan blames his brothers
death on the fact that police motor
cycles are not equipped with sirens.
but only with horns. He thinks that.
If the officer had a siren on his ma
chine. Lanoir would have heard it in
sufiicient time to pull to the curb.
Buchanan was well known in local
athletic circles, having played on club
base ball, foot ball and basket ball
teams. He recently joined Petworth
Lodge, No AZ, r. A. A. M.
He had been member of the police
force since 1925 and had figured in
two prominent cases. He was the
captor of Samuel Moreno, one of the
three slayerS of former Policeman Leo
w. X. Busch. who was executed last
Summer. He. was also one of the
officers acquitted in the fatal shooting
Of Riley Hall two years ago.