1928 – Miami Beach Police Officer David Cecil Bearden was fatally shot by suspected car thieves on this date, making him the first Miami Beach police officer killed in the line of duty. Bearden was a native of Alabama and moved to Miami Beach in the early 1920s and became a police officer in 1926. On March 18^th 1928, three men stole a car from Miami Beach and drove to Fort Lauderdale, then shortly after midnight broke into a Hupmobile dealership, stole a sedan and drove back to Miami Beach in the early morning hours of March 19^th. Bearden, who was only 24 at the time of the incident, stopped two suspicious looking men walking down Collins Ave near 22^nd street around 5:00a.m. when one man opened fire hitting Bearden in the chest. Bearden, although mortally wounded managed to exchange fire, killing one of the suspects and injuring another. Bearden then crawled a block to a police alarm box and called for help. The two men later identified as Cliff Nesbitt and Howard Beck and were found guilty of the auto thefts and the fatal shooting. Officer Bearden is buried in his hometown of Maplesville Alabama. (For more information read “Forgotten Heroes: Police Officers Killed in Dade County,” by Dr. William Wilbanks,” Turner Publishing Company, 1996)