Patrolman Leonard Claude Tribble - West Miami Police Dept. - True Life Hero

Leonard Claude Tribble
- Oct. 17, 1958 -

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West Miami Police Dept. Patch

Resided:	FL, USA
Born:	Apr. 15, 1933
Fallen:	Oct. 17, 1958
Race/Sex:	Caucasian Male / 25 yrs. of age
	Agency
Dept:	West Miami Police Dept. West Miami, FL USA
County:	Dade
Dept. Type:	Municipal/Police
Hero's Rank:	Patrolman
Sworn Date:	1955
FBI Class:	Crash
Weapon Class:	Vehicle
On The Job:	4 years

Bio: Leonard Claude Tribble was born on April 15, 1933, Winter Haven, FL, to Claude Eugene and Alice M. Nyman Tribble. He was the oldest of five children (Leonard, Carolyn, James, William, and Barbara). The Tribble family moved to Atlanta when Leonard was 6 years old and then to Miami when he was 9. Leonard attended GladeView Elementary School and Allapattah Jr. H.S. He made a strong impression on his 6th grade teacher at GladeView, Kathryn Beard Floyd, as after his death she wrote a note of sympathy to the Tribble family.

Leonard dropped out of school in the 10th grade due to his father's illness and began working full-time to help support his family. He first worked at the Hamburger Hearth and then for Maule Industries, where his father was a driver. He was a "truck driver" in 1951 (according to his application for a marriage license).

Leonard Tribble, 18, married Margaret A. Frady, 17, in Miami on June 24, 1951. The Frady family (Howard H. and Ellie Frady and daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret) moved to Miami in 1942 and lived in the Allapattah area (at 1856 N.W. 23rd St.) when Margaret married Leonard. Margaret's father was a mechanic with Eastern Airlines. Melinda Tribble was born seven months after her father's death (i.e., around May of 1959).

Tribble was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951 (shortly after his marriage) and served two years. He was stationed at Ft. Bragg in N.C. Upon his return to Miami he went back to his job at Maule Industries. However, he had always wanted to become a police officer and, in 1955, he fulfilled that ambition when he joined the West Miami Police Department and entered the Police Academy.

Tribble was only 21 when he joined the West Miami Police Dept. He was first assigned to patrol but requested, and was granted, a transfer to the motorcycle squad. On Nov. 25, 1957, he served as part of the motorcycle escort for the funeral of Coral Gables Officer Billy Stephens, another motorcycle officer. Tribble had no way of knowing that within a year he would be buried within yards of Officer Stephens.

Officer Tribble was often assigned to a school crossing at Sylvania Heights Elementary School in West Miami and was well known to the children and staff at the school. After his death, the West Miami girl scout troop, led by Mrs. Muriel Brown, purchased new school crossing signs with flashing lights for the school in memory of Officer Tribble who often instructed the students in safety.

Survived by:

Margaret Tribble - Wife

his parents, Claude and Alice Tribble of Hollywood, FL; two brothers, James W., 21, and William, 16, of Hollywood; two sisters, Mrs. Carolyn Cottrel, 24, and Barbara Ann Tribble, 9, of Hollywood; and a grandmother, Mrs. Lena Nyman of Hollywood.

Fatal Incident Summary

Offender:	Louis Friedman

Location:	FL USA Fri. Oct. 17, 1958
Summary:	Around 3:30PM on Friday, Oct. 17, 1958, Officer Tribble was on S.W. 8th St. when he met an ambulance (going the other direction) which was taking the victim of a heart attack to Doctors Hospital. As the ambulance passed him, he turned around and tried to catch (and pass) the ambulance so that he could run escort for it to the hospital. He was still behind the ambulance trying to catch up when his motorcycle collided with a car at S.W. 61st Ave. and S.W. 8th St. The driver of the car, Louis Friedman, 70, heard the siren of the ambulance and pulled over into the outside lane to let the ambulance pass by on the inside lane. As soon as the emergency vehicle passed, he attempted to turn (from the outside lane) into a shopping center on the opposite side of the street. Friedman said that he did not see or hear the siren of the motorcycle and did not see it approaching rapidly. Tribble was thrown off his motorcycle and "hurled" 145 feet through the air and struck a telephone pole. The motorcycle "careened" another 100 feet, "crossed the road and struck a parking meter." The officer was rushed to Doctor's Hospital via an Eastern ambulance and was admitted at 4:05PM with a severe head injury and a fractured left leg. He was pronounced dead 11 hours later (at 3:25AM on Oct. 18) by Dr. Figueras. The cause of death was listed as "skull fractures with cerebral hemorrhage and contusions."
Disposition:	Louis Friedman, 70, of Coral Gables was charged with causing an accident by failing to yield the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle (the motorcycle with siren). In 1995 no court record was available on the 1958 traffic court disposition of the case against Louis Friedman.
Source:	Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book- FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN DADE COUNTY, FL, 1895-1995 by William Wilbanks Louisville: Turner Publications 1996

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Last Updated: May. 29, 2019