By Mike Simmons
An excerpt from the book, “Some Gave All,” available on Amazon
End of Watch Sunday, January 15, 1939
Herbert Hatcher, known to everyone as “Tommie,” was born in Tennessee, but had lived in Pensacola since his teenage years. Pensacola was his town, and he loved it. He lived on the west side of town, and was a vital part of his neighborhood.
In 1932, Tommie decided to take that love for his town a step further when he became a proud Pensacola Police Officer. He soon found that he had found his niche. Not only was he good at what he did, but he became one of the favorites on the force. But just when he thought life couldn’t get better, he was asked to head up the School Patrol detail. He took it on with vigor! It wasn’t long before he was endeared by hundreds of School Patrol Boys across the city. To them, he WAS the Pensacola Police Department.
Six years later, in late 1938, Tommie was transferred to the Traffic Section of the department. That meant he would ride a motorcycle. As some officers can attest to, that is a potentially dangerous assignment (yeah.)
Also as other officers have done, Tommie was involved in a police motorcycle traffic crash, injuring his foot. While healing, he was assigned to the midnight shift under Captain Riley Simmons, the author’s cousin. Obviously, Tommie couldn’t walk a beat, so he was assigned to ride with Captain Simmons.
The People’s Cafe was perhaps the most popular all-night restaurant in town. It was located on the northwest corner of Hayne and Wright Street. All day and all night, people came there for food and fellowship. The small diner was fronted with large windows and had a jukebox – a favorite of the patrons.
Arthur Bobe was also a Pensacola Police Officer. He was an exceptional officer, the first to take an examination for employment in the history of the police department. Arthur had a 17-year-old son by the same name, who everyone referred to as “Junior.”
Just after midnight on Sunday, January 15, Captain Simmons and Officer Hatcher were sitting in the police car when a citizen came up and advised them that an armed robbery was taking place about a block from their location, at the People’s Café. Captain Simmons, who was driving, shot off to the cafe. As he was slowing to a stop, Tommie jumped out of the car and ran to the door. As soon as he opened it, the suspect fired and shot him in the abdomen. Tommie collapsed. Captain Simmons fired through the large front window, but missed the suspect, who returned fire, also missing. Captain Simmons moved to the door and fired again. The suspect was dead before he hit the floor. Captain Simmons called for an ambulance. Tommie was rushed to the hospital in serious condition.
Chief William O’Connell was called at home, got up, dressed, and headed to the scene. Captain Simmons met him there and advised him of the situation. As the chief was looking the scene over, he noticed the gun that was used by the suspect to shoot Tommie. He looked at it for a few moments and said to the Captain, “That is one of our guns!” A check revealed that it was assigned to Officer Arthur Bobe. When they contacted Officer Bobe, they found that neither his son nor his service weapon were at home.
Officer Hatcher died at 4:45 AM. He was survived by his wife Eunice and their children – Herbert Jr., Tommie, and Almedia.
As it turned out, the son of a PPD officer killed another PPD officer, who was then killed by a PPD officer. Sad day.
