Indianola’s night policeman William Elvin “Pop” Hickman responded to an accident about two blocks east of the intersection at Iowa Highway 92 and U.S. Highway 65/69 in Indianola on a damp November night in 1957.

A college student ran into a drain tile that had been left on the side of the road during an ongoing construction project. The student wasn’t hurt, so night policeman Hickman pulled the drain tile off the road and his night went on as usual. The following days, night policeman Hickman’s health began to decline and it was found that he had  suffered from a retroperitoneal hemorrhage caused by a pyloric obstruction. Night policeman Hickman died of an acute post-operative pulmonary embolism following this incident.