Cst. David Romano

Constable Romano was killed when his police car collided with a truck travelling on the wrong side of the road.

 

Constable David Romano joined the Edmonton Police Department in 1954.

 

On November 24, 1956, at 3:46 a.m., Constable Romano and his partner, Constable Donnell, were responding to a domestic dispute complaint. The red flasher lights on the police car were activated as they entered the west end of the Mill Creek Bridge. A truck travelling the wrong way on the bridge collided with the police car.

 

A second police vehicle happened upon the scene shortly after the collision. According to those officers, “the doors of the police car were jammed shut and the windows had to be smashed to reach the injured policemen. Constable Romano was dead, and Constable Donnell was pinned in his seat, bleeding from head and face cuts.”

 

The driver of the truck was charged with manslaughter.

 

The coroner found the collision was caused to some extent by the negligence of the truck driver, and “partly by the poor approach at the east end of the bridge.” He directed the City of Edmonton to “make an immediate study to improve the bridge approach and install control and warning signs at each end of the bridge.”

 

Constable Romano was 32 at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and two sons.