Officer Raymond Earl Hicks, Sr.
(June 15, 1941 -- Aug. 17, 1976)

On the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1976, five LAPD officers, armed with a search warrant, approached a house on East Hyde Park Boulevard in the Inglewood neighborhood of Los Angeles, a few miles southwest of downtown, to conduct a drug raid.

Officers Raymond Hicks, 35, and his partner, Lloyd Gauff, 32, of the LAPD's Venice Division, knocked on the door and announced themselves as police officers. When there was no response, they kicked in the door. The 31-year-old homeowner fired a shot at Gauff with a .357-caliber handgun, but missed. Hicks then shot at the homeowner, but he also missed. The homeowner returned fire at Hicks, and hit the officer in the chest.

Hicks was taken to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital -- now Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center -- about three miles from the scene of the shooting, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m.

The officers arrested the homeowner and six other people inside the home, including the shooter's 27-year-old wife, who was charged with possession of a dangerous drug with intent to sell. Police found 167 grams of PCP -- "angel dust" -- inside the house, as well as 120 grams of marijuana. The other five people in the house were not charged.

The shooter was arraigned on charges of murder, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, and possession of a dangerous drug. He was held without bail, and prosecutors announced plans to seek the death penalty.

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Raymond Earl Hicks was born June 15, 1941, in Washington, North Carolina, a small city on the east coast of the state, about 100 miles east of Raleigh. His parents were Plummer Hicks, Jr., a farmer, and Estelle Tyson Hicks. Raymond was the oldest of three boys -- William was born in 1943, and Leamon was born in 1946.

In 1961, a couple of weeks after his 20th birthday, Hicks enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for three years as a Specialist 4 assigned to the battery detail of the 4th Missile Battalion of the 65th Artillery Division in Van Nuys, California.

After his discharge from the Army in June 1964, Hicks joined the LAPD. He worked in the department's Rampart Division's vice bureau before being assigned to the Venice Division's narcotics division in February 1974. During his 12-year LAPD career, Hicks received 21 departmental and citizen commendations.

On July 7, 1973, Hicks married Peggy A. Wilson, a clerk in the Rampart Division, in Los Angeles. The bride and groom were both were 31. They had three children -- Raymond, Jr., Marcus and Barbara.

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On Oct. 29, 1976, a Superior Court judge dismissed the drug possession charges against the shooter's wife, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case.

On Feb. 3, 1977, a different Superior Court judge dismissed all charges against the shooter. The judge ruled that the search warrant was improper because police had not first obtained sufficient information of drug activity at the house to support the search warrant, and therefore none of the evidence seized at the home could be used against him.

"Without evidence that (the shooter) was involved in drug traffic, it would have been impossible to proceed on the murder charge since he could claim he was just defending his home," said a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney.

Hicks' killer walked free.

Hicks was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park -- Hollywood Hills. Nearly 700 fellow police officers, family members, friends and civilians attended his funeral service.

Officer Hicks' memorial sign is located at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

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