Sheriff
Roy James Tipton Sr.
Clay County Sheriff's Department
Wednesday, September 16, 1931

Age: 44
Served: 8 months
Badge #:
Not Included
Not Included

Incident Details

Cause of Death:
Struck by vehicle
Date/Time of Incident:
Wednesday, September 16, 1931
07:00 pm
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
State Road 59 south of Brazil
Incident County:
Clay
Incident Township:
Posey
Weapon Used:
None
Suspect Disposition:
Charged
Burial Place:
Summit Lawn Cemetery, Brazil

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   Sheriff Roy Tipton was struck and killed as he got out of his vehicle parked along State Road 59, three miles south of Brazil.

   His older son and a deputy sheriff went with him and had approached the nearby farmhouse to take a man into custody who was suffering from mental illness.

   As Sheriff Tipton exited his vehicle, he was struck and dragged over 100 feet as that vehicle crossed the center line and overturned in a southbound ditch.

   The 15-year-old driver of the northbound car that struck him was charged with driving without an operator's license.

   Sheriff Tipton, a Republican from Brazil, was in the first year of his two-year term in office. He was survived by his wife, 11- and 23-year-old sons, 20-year-old daughter, mother, two brothers and four sisters.

   His wife, Mae Tipton, was appointed sheriff to serve the remainder of her husband's term, becoming the first female sheriff of Clay County and the third female to serve as a sheriff in the state of Indiana.

Historical Notes

• Sheriff Tipton held the third-shortest term in office, at 259 days, of the 21 sheriffs with line of duty deaths in Indiana.
• The 15-year-old offender is the third-youngest known to be involved in a line of duty death in Indiana.
~ ~ ~
This officer, discovered in 2013, has not been submitted for consideration as an eligible line of duty death to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund by the Clay County Sheriff's Department.

View all fallen officers from the
Clay County Sheriff's Department

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Sheriff Tipton Sr.
Sheriff Roy James Tipton Sr.- Clay County Sheriff's Department - INLEM.org