Rural Officer William Strange was killed in the line of duty on April 6, 1937. He was shot and killed while investigating an illegal moonshine still. When Strange and another deputy were surrounding a house in the woods, a suspect came out of the front door shooting, fatally striking Stange, and ran off into the woods. The suspect was never positively identified or brought to justice.

    Sgt Allan Brazzell was a Patrol supervisor with our agency when he was taken from us at the hands of a drunk driver on October 12, 1986. Sgt Brazzell had stepped out of his vehicle to remove some debris out of the roadway that had fallen off of a truck when he was fatally struck by a drunken driver.

    On February 26, 1996, Sgt Charles Benedict "Charlie" Kubala responded to what would be his final call of service for the citizens of Sumter County. Sgt Kubala had been a member of our family faithfully serving for 13 years. His last few years he served as a shift supervisor in the Patrol Division. Charlie was married and the father of two small children at the time of his death. He was also very active in the Sumter community and was a dedicated mentor to many of the young people in the Sheriff's Office Explorer program.

    Sgt Kubala was on scene at a prowler call when he was so brutally taken from us. A couple of months after the incident a fundraiser was started to honor Charlie and raise money for his children's college. Now in it's 16th year, the annual Charlie Kubala Memorial Golf Tournament has grown into Sumter's largest golf tournament and is one of the largest in South Carolina with almost 300 players in attendance each year. The charity has also expanded to cover various costs for any children of area law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty as well as an immediate benefit payment to the spouse of any local officer killed in the line of duty.

     K9 "Alpha" was a loyal service dog that passed away of natural causes in February, 2010. He was trained in narcotics detection and tracking. "Alpha" first started serving Sumter County in 2004 and anxiously worked right up until until he became ill. He will be in our hearts and with us in spirit forever.