Summit County Sheriff's Department History

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Summit County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff	Length of Term
Ruben J. Spaulding	1859 - 1861
Dr. P. H. Boyd	1861 - 1862
W. M. Evans	1862 - 1863
James a. Pierce	1863 - 1864
William H. Beery	1866 - 1867
Gilbert W. Packer	1867 - 1869
Daniel C. Twibell	1869 - 1871
Adam L. Shock	1871 - 1876
Jacob D. Perry	1876 - 1878
James R. Lewis	1878 - 1880
A. L. Larkin	1880 - 1882
Daniel Hanley	1882 - 1884
William H. Iliff	1884 - 1886
Daniel Hanley	1886 - 1888
Frank M. Brown	1888 - 1892
Adolphus "Tip" Ballif	1892 - 1898
Jeramiah G. Detweiler	1898 - 1913
Walter R. Thomas	1913 - 1915
Jerimiah G. Detweiler	1915 - 1935
Fred S. Phillips	1935 - 1937
John H. Lee	1937 - 1941
Carl Park Enyeart	1941 - 1947
Melvin Ray Loomis	1947 - 1958
Earl W. Knight, Jr.	1958 - 1958
Leonard J. "Gil" Gilkenson	1958 - 1965
Charles W. Clark	1965 - 1971
Orvin "Bob" Holt	1971 - 1973
Carl F. Erickson	1973 - 1975
Robert W. Farris	1975 - 1983
Delbert L. Ewoldt	1983 - 1995
Joe Morales	1995 - 2004
John G. Minor	2004 - Present

Pug Ryan Robs The Denver Hotel
Deputy Ernest Conrad
Deputy Sumner Whitney
On August 11, 1898, while several prominent citizens gambled at the Denver Hotel, Main Street, Breckenridge, Pug Ryan and his gang entered the hotel. The gang originally intended to rob the hotel safe, but instead relieved the gamblers of their valuables at gunpoint which included $50 in cash from the bar till, as well as fine watches and jewelry.

Pug and his thugs fled to a remote cabin near Kokomo after the robbery. Summit County Sheriff Jerry Detweiler deputized Ernest Conrad, who had assisted with law enforcement duties in Breckenridge for years. Conrad hastened to Kokomo, where he deputized longtime Kokomo resident Sumner Whitney. The two men traveled to the cabin where the gang was hiding out.

After gaining entry to the cabin, Conrad and Whitney demanded that the gang return the stolen loot. Unwilling to comply, Pug Ryan and his gang opened fire on the two deputies. Deputy Conrad died instantly. Deputy Whitney was mortally wounded, as were two of the bandits. Pug escaped unscathed, though not before robbing one of his dying henchmen. Whitney succumbed to his wounds a few weeks later.

Pug Ryan died at the state penitentiary in Canon City in 1931.

In 1908, school children discovered Pug Ryan's treasure near Breckenridge. The found treasure included the gold watch of the Denver Hotel's owner.

Officer Michael O'Neal memorialized at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

On July 23, 1880, Kokomo night policeman, Michael O’Neal, went into Keister’s Saloon to break up a disturbance. O’Neal politely asked the patrons to quiet down. Charley Norton, proprietor of Breckenridge’s Senate Saloon, without a word of warning, drew his pistol and fatally shot O’Neal in the abdomen. O’Neal had only been on the job for four days.

Norton fled into the woods but was later captured by Deputy Marshals near Leadville. He was returned to the Kokomo jail and placed under heavy guard. A few hours later, a mob of 2,000 led by O’Neal’s brother went to the jail, overpowered the guards, and dragged Norton to the outskirts of town where he was hanged from a beam in a corral.

On May 13, 2006, Officer O'Neal's name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. during National Police Week. Undersheriff Derek Woodman and Sergeant Cale Osborn attended the ceremony as representatives of the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

In Memoriam

On January 8, 1990, Patrol Deputy Wendy Jean Webster, 28 years old, died in a car accident near Breckenridge. Deputy Webster had been employed with the Summit County Sheriff's Office for seven years. She was a single mom and a highly respected member of the Operations Division of the Sheriff's Office.