RETIRED POLICE DEPUTY CHIEF BILBO DIES AFTER TRACTOR ACCIDENT * AUBERRY MAN REMEMBERED FOR 36 YEARS OF CITY SERVICE.
Retired Fresno police Deputy Chief Alvin "Jake" Bilbo died Sunday following a tractor accident on White Thorn Road near his Auberry-area residence.
The Fresno County coroner's office reported that the 65-year-old Bilbo was driving a tractor along the dirt road about 10:40 a.m. when the tractor's scraper blade snagged on the uneven road surface.
Bilbo was slammed forward against the tractor's steering wheel. He was taken to St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno where he was pronounced dead at 1 a.m., the coroner's report said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of Bilbo's death.
Fresno police Lt. James Pryce, a longtime friend, said an Auberry-area neighbor was following Bilbo in another vehicle when the accident happened. The neighbor told Pryce that, right after the accident, Bilbo stepped down off the tractor. " . . . that hurt," Bilbo told the neighbor. Then Bilbo collapsed.
Pryce met the retired deputy chief in 1961 when Pryce was a cadet and then-Sgt. Bilbo was in charge of the police academy. Through the years before Bilbo retired in 1987, Pryce said he found Bilbo to be honest, demanding good police work from his subordinates in the department.
"He really knew his business," Pryce said. "He was extremely fair. I've found that he was an extremely warm person, extremely loyal to his friends."
Bilbo and his wife, Jeanine, built their "dream home" in the mountains near Auberry a few years before the deputy chief retired, to raise horses, cattle and apples.
Bilbo was driving the tractor to his place from a neighbor's ranch when Sunday's accident happened, Pryce said.
In 1951, Bilbo had job applications in with the Fresno and Los Angeles police departments. Fresno called first and he needed the job, Bilbo told friends. He had a criminology degree from Fresno State College.
During his 36 years with the Fresno Police Department, he served in all its divisions. He was promoted in 1979 to deputy chief.
At retirement, he headed the investigations division.
"He was a good commanding officer," police Lt. Greg Coleman said Sunday. "I knew him when he was a lieutenant and a captain and a deputy chief."
Retired Fresno police Deputy Chief Alvin "Jake" Bilbo died Sunday following a tractor accident on White Thorn Road near his Auberry-area residence.
The Fresno County coroner's office reported that the 65-year-old Bilbo was driving a tractor along the dirt road about 10:40 a.m. when the tractor's scraper blade snagged on the uneven road surface.
Bilbo was slammed forward against the tractor's steering wheel. He was taken to St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno where he was pronounced dead at 1 a.m., the coroner's report said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of Bilbo's death.
Fresno police Lt. James Pryce, a longtime friend, said an Auberry-area neighbor was following Bilbo in another vehicle when the accident happened. The neighbor told Pryce that, right after the accident, Bilbo stepped down off the tractor. " . . . that hurt," Bilbo told the neighbor. Then Bilbo collapsed.
Pryce met the retired deputy chief in 1961 when Pryce was a cadet and then-Sgt. Bilbo was in charge of the police academy. Through the years before Bilbo retired in 1987, Pryce said he found Bilbo to be honest, demanding good police work from his subordinates in the department.
"He really knew his business," Pryce said. "He was extremely fair. I've found that he was an extremely warm person, extremely loyal to his friends."
Bilbo and his wife, Jeanine, built their "dream home" in the mountains near Auberry a few years before the deputy chief retired, to raise horses, cattle and apples.
Bilbo was driving the tractor to his place from a neighbor's ranch when Sunday's accident happened, Pryce said.
In 1951, Bilbo had job applications in with the Fresno and Los Angeles police departments. Fresno called first and he needed the job, Bilbo told friends. He had a criminology degree from Fresno State College.
During his 36 years with the Fresno Police Department, he served in all its divisions. He was promoted in 1979 to deputy chief.
At retirement, he headed the investigations division.
"He was a good commanding officer," police Lt. Greg Coleman said Sunday. "I knew him when he was a lieutenant and a captain and a deputy chief."
RETIRED POLICE DEPUTY CHIEF BILBO DIES AFTER TRACTOR ACCIDENT * AUBERRY MAN REMEMBERED FOR 36 YEARS OF CITY SERVICE.
Retired Fresno police Deputy Chief Alvin "Jake" Bilbo died Sunday following a tractor accident on White Thorn Road near his Auberry-area residence.
The Fresno County coroner's office reported that the 65-year-old Bilbo was driving a tractor along the dirt road about 10:40 a.m. when the tractor's scraper blade snagged on the uneven road surface.
Bilbo was slammed forward against the tractor's steering wheel. He was taken to St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno where he was pronounced dead at 1 a.m., the coroner's report said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of Bilbo's death.
Fresno police Lt. James Pryce, a longtime friend, said an Auberry-area neighbor was following Bilbo in another vehicle when the accident happened. The neighbor told Pryce that, right after the accident, Bilbo stepped down off the tractor. " . . . that hurt," Bilbo told the neighbor. Then Bilbo collapsed.
Pryce met the retired deputy chief in 1961 when Pryce was a cadet and then-Sgt. Bilbo was in charge of the police academy. Through the years before Bilbo retired in 1987, Pryce said he found Bilbo to be honest, demanding good police work from his subordinates in the department.
"He really knew his business," Pryce said. "He was extremely fair. I've found that he was an extremely warm person, extremely loyal to his friends."
Bilbo and his wife, Jeanine, built their "dream home" in the mountains near Auberry a few years before the deputy chief retired, to raise horses, cattle and apples.
Bilbo was driving the tractor to his place from a neighbor's ranch when Sunday's accident happened, Pryce said.
In 1951, Bilbo had job applications in with the Fresno and Los Angeles police departments. Fresno called first and he needed the job, Bilbo told friends. He had a criminology degree from Fresno State College.
During his 36 years with the Fresno Police Department, he served in all its divisions. He was promoted in 1979 to deputy chief.
At retirement, he headed the investigations division.
"He was a good commanding officer," police Lt. Greg Coleman said Sunday. "I knew him when he was a lieutenant and a captain and a deputy chief."
Retired Fresno police Deputy Chief Alvin "Jake" Bilbo died Sunday following a tractor accident on White Thorn Road near his Auberry-area residence.
The Fresno County coroner's office reported that the 65-year-old Bilbo was driving a tractor along the dirt road about 10:40 a.m. when the tractor's scraper blade snagged on the uneven road surface.
Bilbo was slammed forward against the tractor's steering wheel. He was taken to St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno where he was pronounced dead at 1 a.m., the coroner's report said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of Bilbo's death.
Fresno police Lt. James Pryce, a longtime friend, said an Auberry-area neighbor was following Bilbo in another vehicle when the accident happened. The neighbor told Pryce that, right after the accident, Bilbo stepped down off the tractor. " . . . that hurt," Bilbo told the neighbor. Then Bilbo collapsed.
Pryce met the retired deputy chief in 1961 when Pryce was a cadet and then-Sgt. Bilbo was in charge of the police academy. Through the years before Bilbo retired in 1987, Pryce said he found Bilbo to be honest, demanding good police work from his subordinates in the department.
"He really knew his business," Pryce said. "He was extremely fair. I've found that he was an extremely warm person, extremely loyal to his friends."
Bilbo and his wife, Jeanine, built their "dream home" in the mountains near Auberry a few years before the deputy chief retired, to raise horses, cattle and apples.
Bilbo was driving the tractor to his place from a neighbor's ranch when Sunday's accident happened, Pryce said.
In 1951, Bilbo had job applications in with the Fresno and Los Angeles police departments. Fresno called first and he needed the job, Bilbo told friends. He had a criminology degree from Fresno State College.
During his 36 years with the Fresno Police Department, he served in all its divisions. He was promoted in 1979 to deputy chief.
At retirement, he headed the investigations division.
"He was a good commanding officer," police Lt. Greg Coleman said Sunday. "I knew him when he was a lieutenant and a captain and a deputy chief."
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