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On March 4, 1963, Partolman Donald C. Sparks stopped a car at Grand and Castleman that matched the description of a car used in a grocery store holdup. He was fatally shot by the driver as he approached the vehicle.
Comments/Citation:
Patrolman Donald C. Sparks was a veteran police officer with ten years of service with the St. Louis Police Department. On March 4, 1963, the thirty-three year-old Officer was shot twice in the head by a holdup man at Grand and Castleman. He died two hours later.
Earl Nickens, a former convict, was fleeing from a grocery store holdup when Officer Sparks stopped his car. Sparks pulled over Nickens' car, which matched the description of the robbery geteway car. As Officer Sparks approached Nickens' car, Nickens fired at the officer, fatally wounding him. Sergeant James McQualey, Patrolman Donald Qathright and Patrolman James Scott arrested Nickens a few hours after the shooting.
Sparks began his career with the department as a civilian employee in 1953. He became a patrolman in July of 1954. He wassurvived by a wife and nine year old daughter.
