14/12/2023
Let’s find who killed Officer Lewis
We Honor and Remember Long Beach Police Officer Franke Neal Lewis, End of Watch (EOW) December 13, 1975, Gunfire
Officer Frank Lewis, 28, a two-year veteran of the force, was shot and killed when he investigated suspicious activity in a vehicle near where he lived on the 6200 block of Cantel Street in East Long Beach.
Officer Lewis got off his shift at 2:30 a.m. When he arrived home, he noticed something suspicious inside a car parked along the street a short distance from his house. An unknown assailant was attacking a man inside his vehicle. Lewis parked on the wrong side of the street and went to intervene. As he approached the car, the suspect turned and shot Lewis once in the face. Mortally wounded, he collapsed to the ground. Before fleeing, his attacker exited the vehicle and took his service revolver and the leather case containing his Long Beach PD badge and ID card. Officers later recovered the leather case containing the badge and ID outside a residence in Compton.
The victim of the assault Officer Lewis thwarted was a 29-year-old teacher who taught night school. After a long week of teaching, he became drowsy on his way home from class. Rather than drive all the way to his house and risk an accident, he decided to exit the freeway and parked on Cantel Street near Officer Lewis's home to take a nap. Unfortunately, his attacker woke him from a sound sleep, so he could not provide a meaningful description of him. He believes Officer Lewis's intervention saved his life.
Officer Lewis's wife, Linda, heard the shot that killed her husband and went outside. When she saw him, she ran to his side. He tried to speak to her, but his injuries prevented him. He died before paramedics arrived.
Despite a reward for the killer that grew to $75,000 shortly after the murder, Lewis's killer eluded arrest. In November 2015, on the fortieth anniversary of his murder, the Long Beach Police Department offered a new $50,000 reward for information leading to his killer's arrest. The case remains unsolved.
In addition to his wife, Franke Lewis left behind two young daughters, ages five and two.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, Long Beach PD, Mr. Denis Gitschier