Updated: 04/19/2011 01:32:00 PM
PIO Number: 11-4-24
Memorial Service Honoring Town Marshal John Clifton, Deputy Worth Edwards, Officer James T. Thomas, Deputy Philip Guy Billings, Lt. Richard “Rick” Scorgie and Lt. Mark Freeman
10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 21th
2601 West Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
A memorial service will be held in honor of four slain officers of the law and two deceased fire rescue veterans.Dania Town Marshal John Clifton, 50, was shot and killed while handling a domestic violence dispute on March 7, 1914, before Broward County was created, when Dania was still part of Dade County. Marshal Clifton received a report that a man named Bill Walker was threatening to kill a woman on the town’s west side. Marshal Clifton found Walker “armed and angry” and told him he was under arrest. When Walker refused to go to jail, the lawman fired his pistol at the man’s feet. Either Walker or his friend fired a second shot and Marshal Clifton was killed. Dade County Sheriff Dan Hardie and his deputy borrowed some bloodhounds from the Coconut Grove convict camp and drove to Dania. They formed a posse, offered a reward of $100 for Walker if taken alive or $50 if he was dead. An apparently innocent man was flushed from the woods and was shot to death, but it was not Bill Walker, who fled the area. Marshal Clifton is buried in Dania’s Woodlawn Cemetery with his father (a Confederate Civil War veteran) and other family members. Deputy Worth “Joe” Edwards was born in Broward County and, in 1967, he joined the Broward Sheriff’s Office as a transport deputy. He moved to road patrol in 1968 and joined the Civil Division in 1974. Deputy Edwards was off duty on March 15th, 1980, when a citizen told him that four young men in a car were trying to sell guns outside a Broward Boulevard tire store. Dep. Edwards approached the car, and 19-year-old Ricky Washington shot and killed him. Washington was quickly apprehended and convicted and is now serving a life sentence in prison.Officer James T. Thomas was a member of the Dania Police Department. On April 19, 1977, the Little General convenience store on Griffin Road near State Road 7 was preparing to close for the evening. Officer Thomas was the brother-in-law of the night clerk and was waiting outside in his personal car. Two men entered the store, planning a robbery, but they learned the cash had already been dropped in the safe, so they turned to leave. Officer Thomas approached the door at the same time. One of the suspects fired a handgun, and Officer Thomas fell to the ground with a single gunshot wound to his head. The murder went unsolved for five years. In 1982, a BSO detective received information that members of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang had shot and killed a police officer years before. Those suspects were identified and their fingerprints were compared to those obtained at the crime scene. A photo line up was presented to the store clerk, who positively identified the suspects, including the one who fired the fatal shot at Officer Thomas.
Deputy Philip Guy Billings joined the Broward Sheriff’s Office in 2001. Philip had been with BSO for 18-months when he accepted an extra-duty security detail at Coral Cadillac in Pompano Beach. During this late-night shift, he heard a noise and went to investigate. Two habitual criminals were trying to steal custom wheels. As he approached with his weapon drawn, Philip was shot twice, collapsed on the scene and died. He was 25 years old. Arrest warrants charging Kevin Chermark and Christopher Spicer with the murder of Deputy Billings were obtained. Four days after the cold-blooded killing, as BSO and Palm Beach County deputies closed in on them hiding in a truck parked behind a West Boca pool supply store, they died in a murder-suicide, with Chermark firing the final fatal rounds.Lt. Rick Scorgie joined the Cooper City Fire Department in 1986 after serving as a volunteer firefighter with Coral Springs. A few years later, he became a state certified paramedic and then a state certified fire instructor. In the early 1990s, Rick joined the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Rick loved the task force and could always be counted on when needed. He took part in almost every task force deployment – with his last being New York City on September 11, 2001. Rick was a co-chair for the Regional Domestic Security Task Force in Florida and was well known as an instructor, teaching weapons of mass destruction, urban search & rescue and homeland security classes at the local, state and national levels. Rick was named firefighter of the month shortly before he passed away on May 27, 2005.
Lt. Mark Freeman joined Broward County Emergency Medical Service in May 1984. He served as a lieutenant for Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue at Station 17/27 in West Park. Known for a tremendous strength of character, a solid work ethic, and a gentle nature, Mark was a respected and admired firefighter/paramedic. Mark lost his battle with cancer on Thursday, March 30, 2006. He was 45-years-old.
During the Thursday morning service, the honor guard will present the colors, a wreath will be hung on the memorial wall, a bugler will play taps, and Sheriff Al Lamberti and others will reflect on the lives lost.
This report by:
Dani Moschella/PIO