Lieutenant
George Yaros
Gary Police Department
Tuesday, August 11, 1981

Age: 57
Served: 29 years, 5 months
Badge #: 240
Panel 54W, Line 12
Panel L22, Line 2

Incident Details

Cause of Death:
Gunfire
Date/Time of Incident:
Tuesday, August 11, 1981
12:05 pm
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
3680 Broadway, Gary
Incident County:
Lake
Incident Township:
Calumet
Weapon Used:
.44-caliber handgun
Suspect Disposition:
• Discharged in 2011
• Discharged in 2012
• Discharged in 2018
Burial Place:
Calumet Park Cemetery, Merrillville

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   Lieutenant George Yaros was shot and killed while responding to an armed robbery of $13,000 at the Gary National Bank.

   When he arrived on the scene, one of three male suspects shot him. As they fled to their getaway car, the same suspect shot Lieutenant Yaros at point-blank range. He was taken to St. Mary Mercy Hospital where he died.

   A high-speed pursuit and shootout by police resulted in the suspect's car crashing into a tree. The shooter fled on foot and with the aid of bystanders was discovered walking nearby before being apprehended.

   All three suspects were charged and convicted of murder, but the jury recommended death only for the 26-year-old shooter with the other two suspects being sentenced to 60 years in prison. The 32- and 29-year-old offenders were discharged in 2011 and 2012.

   In 1993, the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, but overturned the shooter's death sentence. He was again sentenced to death in 1996, but the Indiana Supreme Court overturned this death sentence in 2002.

   The offender was resentenced in 2008 to serve a 60-year term for murder and a 14-year term for armed robbery. He was released on a one-year parole in 2017 before being discharged.

   Lieutenant Yaros was due to retire in six months to accept a job at the bank where he was killed. He was survived by his wife, son, two daughters, mother, two sisters, two half-brothers and two grandchildren.

Military Service


United States Army
World War II
Private First Class (PFC) ▪ 1943–1946
101st Airborne Division

   

Purple Heart Medal
Prisoner of War Medal
On D-Day, he landed in Normandy as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division. He was later wounded during the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Purple Heart. While in a field hospital, he was captured by Nazi Germany soldiers and taken to Camp Fünfeichen (Stalag II-A), a prisoner-of-war camp located in Neubrandenburg, where he was interned for over seven months. He is the only officer killed in the line of duty in Indiana who was known to have been a prisoner of war while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.


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