Eugene W. Biscailuz
| Eugene W. Biscailuz | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 12, 1883 Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California |
| Died | May 16, 1969 (aged 86) |
| Police career | |
| Department |
California Highway Patrol Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department |
| Years of service | 1907–1958 |
Eugene W. Biscailuz (March 12, 1883 – May 16, 1969) organized the California Highway Patrol, and later became the 27th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California, serving in that capacity for 26 years, from 1932 to 1958.
Biscailuz was born in Boyle Heights on March 12, 1883. Sheriff Biscailuz's father, Martin V. Biscailuz, was an attorney of French-Basque descent. His mother, Ida Rose Warren, was a descendant of Spanish pioneer Jose Maria Claudio Lopez, a soldier at the San Gabriel Mission. Her father William Warren was an early Los Angeles city marshal killed in a gun battle in 1870.
Biscailuz attended St. Vincent's College (now called Loyola Marymount University), later earning a law degree from the University of Southern California.
In 1902, Biscailuz met and married Willette Harrison, whose father was a captain at San Quentin State Prison and later the sheriff of Marin County.
After working briefly as a shipping clerk in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Biscailuz was appointed as a foreclosure clerk by Sheriff William A. Hammel in 1907. His law background helped him rise in the ranks until he was appointed undersheriff in 1921.
Biscailuz first came to public attention in 1923, when he was asked to accompany the District Attorney to Honduras to bring back convicted murderer Clara Phillips, who had escaped from the County Jail after her conviction. His wife accompanied him on the trip, and contracted a tropical infection from which she never fully recovered. Later, Biscailuz was involved in the 1927 manhunt for child kidnapper and murderer William Edward Hickman, and led raids that eventually helped bring an end to the gambling empire of Tony Cornero.
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