PONCA CITY, Okla. — Osage County Sheriff's Office Captain William "Willy" Hargraves was laid to rest on Friday.
Hargraves died last week while on his way to work. The Department of Public Safety's report about the crash says a 14-year-old was driving the car at the time. The crash is still under investigation.
Hargraves was first hired in 1998 as a jailer. Over the years, he was promoted to Field Deputy and then K-9 Handler. He worked on drug interdiction and detection for the public schools within Osage County with his K-9, Jasmine.
By 2004, he was promoted to Patrol Sergeant who oversaw the supervision of patrol shifts while still working with K-9 Jasmine. A few years later, he was promoted again to Patrol Lieutenant. In 2020 he was promoted to Jail Lieutenant and one year later he was promoted to Jail Administrator/Captain.
Hargraves was recently promoted to Captain of Investigations, the position he was serving until his untimely death.
Gov. Kevin Stitt announced all American and Oklahoma flags are to be lowered to half staff in honor of the loss of two recently fallen Oklahoma officers, Robert Blaine Swartz, a fallen Oklahoma County deputy, and Hargraves, from Friday, Aug. 26 until Sunday, Aug. 28
“Oklahoma mourns the loss of fallen officers Robert Blaine Swartz and Captain William Riley Hargraves and our hearts are with the families and loved ones they left behind,” says Stitt. “We must never take for granted the sacrifices our brave men and women in law enforcement make every single day and we will never forget those who gave their lives to keep us safe.”
The funeral service for Hargraves was held at Ponca City Schools Concert Hall.
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