$10,000 Reward Offered in 1975 Slaying of Long Beach Police Officer

City News Service; Photo: Officer Down Memorial Page

The Board of Supervisors today offered a $10,000 reward for information about the 1975 fatal shooting of a Long Beach police officer.

Supervisor Don Knabe recommended the reward, saying the Long Beach Police Department had re-opened its investigation into the killing of Officer Franke Neal Lewis.

Lewis had completed his shift and was driving home at about 3 a.m. on Dec. 13, 1975, when he spotted suspicious activity in a car parked a few doors down from his house in the 6200 block of Cantel Street, police said.

Investigators think Lewis parked his car and walked toward the disturbance to investigate and was shot as he approached.

The gunman had attacked a man named Dennis Gitschier. Gitschier, tired while driving home, had pulled off the freeway to park and was lying across his front seat when he was assaulted.

Gitschier credits Lewis with saving his life that night, according to Knabe.

Anyone with more information was asked to call Long Beach police Detective Todd Johnson or Shea Robertson at (562) 570-7244.