Age: 38
Served: 9 years
January 30, 1899 to May 23, 1908

On, May 23, 1908, at an Italian colony out on Queen City Avenue in the Lick Run district known as Little Piedmont (near Sunset Avenue), Russo Levato set fire to a tenement occupied by himself and a number of families.  When a man tried to extinguish the flames, Levato shot and killed him with a sawed-off shotgun.  The flames attracted the attention of Patrolman Peterson.  Patrolman Peterson galloped to the scene, ran up to the second floor, and tried to see what he could do about the flames until the Fire Department arrived.  Levato met him there and shot him at close range, at 1:38 p.m., killing him almost instantly.

Patrolman Peterson, a Denmark native, served two enlistments in the United States Navy and was in the Battle of Santiago.

Funeral services were held at his residence May 26, at 2 p.m. followed by burial in Section 28, Lot 75, Grave 13, Spring Grove Cemetery.  Pallbearers included Patrolmen Valentine H------, Arata, John H. Springmeyer, and John P. Steinw----.  Police personnel wore the badge of mourning ten days from May 25 through June 3.

Please contact Director@GCPHS.com if you have information about this incident or officer or his picture, artifiacts, and/or relatives..