Just before midnight on June 15, 1983, Deputies James P. Clark and James F. Marr were responding to a burglary-in-progress call in the Windsor Hills area. As they approached Mullen Avenue, their patrol vehicle lost control while negotiating a curve and crashed into a large tree.
Deputy Clark, who was driving, was transported to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries approximately two hours later, he was 29 years old. Deputy Marr sustained a dislocated shoulder in the collision.
After earning a degree in criminal justice from California State University, Los Angeles, Deputy Clark joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. During his career, he served at the Inmate Reception Center and in the Intelligence Division before transferring to Lennox Station in April 1981.
He was survived by his wife, Patricia, who was expecting their second child at the time of his death, and their three-year-old daughter, De Anna.