Troop G History

Troop G was established in the early 1940’s. The first troop was located on US 80 just east of LA 3 in Bossier City. At the time, Troop G consisted of five parishes: Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne and Red River.

In 1958 Troop G relocated to a new Troop located on US 71 just south of Interstate 20 in Bossier City.

In 1977 Troop G relocated once again to its current facility located on Industrial Dr. Ext., along Interstate 20, in Bossier City.

Today Troop G consists of seven parishes: Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, Desoto, Red River and Webster.

Troop G Commanders

Troop G Memorial

     

Officer Neill A. Yarborough, Sr. had only been a State Highway Officer for a few months and was still commissioned as a Bossier Parish Deputy. Bossier City Town Marshall George Huckaby and Bossier City Police Officer Jobe Wilson had received information that Joe Airey, a fugitive from Caddo Parish, was at the Buckhall Plantation north of Bossier City. They requested assistance from the Bossier Sheriff's department, but no help was available at the time.

Officer Yarborough was asked to assist Marshall Huckaby and Officer Wilson effect an arrest, a job Neill readily accepted since he had helped the Caddo and Bossier Sheriff's departments many times before. Officer Yarborough, ignoring the pleading of his wife not to go, left with the two officers and proceeded to the Buckhall Plantation.

The three officers arrived at the Buckhall Plantation at approximately 10:30 p.m. Wilson and Huckaby went to the front of the house. Neill Yarborough watched the rear. When Wilson and Huckaby knocked on the front door, the Caddo Parish escapee bolted out of the rear of the house, spotted Yarborough, and opened fire with a .45 caliber handgun.

Yarborough died minutes later of a bullet wound near his heart. Airey was captured the next day at a cabin 1½ miles away. He was shot twice by deputies while trying to flee, then lynched and riddled with bullets by a mob before deputies could drive him to the Benton jail.

At the time of his death, Neill A. Yarborough, Sr. was 32 years old and had been employed as a State Highway Officer for three months.

During the late hours of October 30, 1968, Trooper Huey P. Grace died as a result of a traffic accident while pursuing a speeding vehicle.

At approximately 12:17 a.m., on I-20, Trooper Grace began to pursue three vehicles that were suspected of drag racing. One was a Camaro, one was a 1960 Chevrolet, and the other was a Chevy II. When the three vehicles reached the Flournoy-Lucas U.S. 80 exit, they turned off with Trooper Grace close behind. The vehicles then apparently went separate ways, with Trooper Grace following the Chevy II. The driver of the Chevy II refused to stop and attempted to outrun Trooper Grace. The Chevy II turned south onto Flournoy-Lucas Road then south on Woodworth Road. The pursuit continued for approximately six or seven miles, ending with both vehicles crashing near a narrow bridge.

The Chevy II, traveling at an estimated speed of 120 mph, ran off of the roadway and struck the bridge, knocking down the entire railing on the left side. It traveled across the bridge, down into a ditch, and through a barbed wire fence. The vehicle then came to rest after striking a tree.

Seconds later, Trooper Grace crossed the same bridge. Two hundred forty feet south of the bridge, and directly opposite where the Chevy II came to rest, Trooper Grace applied his brakes causing the rear of the patrol car to skid sideways to the left. As it skidded sideways it went off the right side of the roadway into a ditch. It then turned over on its left side, skidded backwards for some distance and flipped over on its top. Trooper Grace was killed instantly as his head and shoulders were pinned between the top of the patrol car and the ground.

Shortly after the accident, the occupants of the other two cars that had been traveling with the Chevy II arrived at the scene. These men and other people at the scene lifted the overturned vehicle and pulled Trooper Grace's body clear of the wreckage.

The driver of the Chevy II was charged with negligent homicide and reckless operation of a vehicle. On February 14, 1969, in the First Judicial District of Caddo Parish, the charges were Nolle Pross.

At the time of his death, Trooper Huey P. Grace was 36 years old and had been a Trooper for five years, one month and twenty-six days.

Elvis Arrest

On April 3, 1955, Trooper Nolan Strange stopped a 1954 pink and white Cadillac for speeding in Caddo Parish. Since the driver had a Tennessee driver’s license, he had to be booked for the offense. Trooper Strange took the driver, 20-year-old Elvis Presley, into custody and transported him to the Caddo Parish Jail.