Reserve Officer Fred Bergman was shot and killed after responding to a burglary in progress call.

On September 12, 1976, Officer Bergmann responded to a burglary-in-progress at the St. Charles Gas Company office on Main Street. Officer Bergmann found the rear door to the business opened and went inside to investigate. He was shot and killed as he entered the business. The suspect was apprehended a short time later. The suspect was an informant against organized crime on the east coast and had been placed in St. Charles by the federal Witness Protection Program after testifying against his organized crime associates.

The subject was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 40 years to life in April of 1978. Because of alleged threats against his life he was transferred to the Arizona State Penitentiary. He escaped in July of 1980 and was captured in New York City in March of 1981. He was returned to the Arizona State Penitentiary where he escaped again on September 19th, 1987. He was arrested in New York City two months later for aggravated assault and burglary.

Officer Bergman was survived by his wife. Interred: Saint Charles Memorial Gardens, St. Charles, MO.