Killed by a Policeman

A quarrel between Chester Reighard and policeman R.J. Werner of Altoona, Pennsylvania, leads to a fight and unexpected death.

Altoona, Pa., May 13- Chester Reighard of this city, connected with one of the prominent families of western Pennsylvania was shot and killed almost instantly by R.J. Werner, a policeman with whom he had quarreled. Reighard with three companions met the policeman about 3 A.M. and were ordered to go to their homes by Werner. Later the policeman again met Reighard and a young man named Madden at Seventh avenue and Fifteenth street, and after again requesting them to go to their homes the men attacked him. In the rough and tumble fight that ensued Werner used his club to good effect and Reighard and Madden broke away and run. Werner called to them to stop and then shot, as he claims, to frighten them. The ball struck Reighard in the spine and he died on the sidewalk in two or three minutes. Reighard was thirty years old and leaves a wife and two children. He was a nephew of L.S. Reighard, one of Altoona’s most prominent businessmen and of D.P. Reighard, of Pittsburg, a millionaire oil man.

“Killed by a Policeman,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed January 20, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/564.