On May 26, 1978, Second Lieutenant James Pat Grimes, 37, of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol was killed in the line of duty in Pottawatomie County during a violent confrontation with two escaped convicts. The fugitives had broken out of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on April 23, 1978, and were wanted in connection with seven murders committed after their escape.

Troopers Houston Pappy Summers and Billy G. Young first encountered the fugitives on a county road when they spotted a stolen truck; a gun battle there killed both troopers. Lieutenant Grimes and his partner were then dispatched, guided by an aircraft, but walked into an ambush. Grimes was fatally wounded and his partner injured. The two convicts were later shot and killed by other responding officers.

Grimes had served 12 years with the Highway Patrol and left behind a wife and a 3-year-old daughter. Does anyone have memories of the patrolmen or details about the response that day to share?