End of Watch:
November 7, 1978
Age: 29
Utah Highway Patrol
Homicide: Handgun
Trooper Ray L. Pierson was shot and killed during a traffic stop west of Panguitch.
Trooper Pierson had recently been transferred to the area and his patrol vehicle had not been equipped with the proper radio crystals. At approximately 10 a.m., Trooper Pierson stopped a pickup on Highway 20, unaware that it was the subject of a recent radio broadcast regarding a gas skip. As Trooper Pierson approached the vehicle, the 18-year-old driver shot him in the chest with a .357-magnum revolver. Although Trooper Pierson managed to return fire striking the vehicle, he succumbed to his wound at the scene. His body was found a few minutes later by a passing motorist, who used the police radio to notify authorities. Half an hour later, a pickup truck attempted to evade a police checkpoint on Interstate 15. Officers pursued it to Beaver where it was forced off the road. The 18-year-old suspect was slightly wounded. He subsequently pled guilty to first-degree murder. The son of UHP Sgt. Dean Pierson, Trooper Pierson was married and the father of two children. A third child was born three months after his death. Trooper Pierson is buried in Antimony City Cemetery.
The bronze memorial name plaque of Trooper Ray L. Pierson is sponsored by the Utah Highway Patrol Association.