Trooper Garland West Fisher Jr., 33, was killed during what began as a routine traffic stop on Interstate 85 south of Petersburg, Virginia, in November 1976. While near the end of his shift he stopped a vehicle that was traveling the wrong way. The driver, 32-year-old Reuben S. Conley, overpowered Fisher, disarmed and shot him, then forced him into Fisher’s patrol car and drove off.

Fisher, despite his wounds, used his radio to alert headquarters, prompting a multi-state pursuit as the car headed toward Atlanta. Virginia State Police and the North Carolina Highway Patrol followed. About 10 miles north of Durham, North Carolina, officers had set up a roadblock; shots were fired from the patrol car, officers returned fire, and the vehicle was stopped. Trooper Fisher was found deceased in the back of the car. Conley was taken into custody and later charged with murder and kidnapping, convicted, and sentenced to 80 years in a North Carolina prison. Fisher, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War and a 12-year Virginia State Police veteran, was survived by his wife and daughter. A bridge over Interstate 85 in Dinwiddie County was named the Trooper Garland West Fisher Jr. Memorial Bridge in his honor in 2015.