In the early morning hours of March 2, 1933, Patrol Inspectors Philip D. Strobridge and Harold W. Brown were injured when the government automobile in which they were riding left the highway in a fog near Fallbrook, California. The officers, accompanied by Senior Patrol Inspector Irvin J. Curtis of Elsinore, California, had been detailed to Los Angeles to appear before a Federal Grand Jury and to work information relative to smuggling in aircraft.

​

The three officers left Los Angeles at approximately 11:00 p.m. enroute to Elsinore and then on to Chula Vista. They encountered heavy fog which hampered the driver's vision and prompted very slow driving. Near Puente, they came upon an accident on the highway in which several persons had been severely injured. The Patrol Inspectors spent about 45 minutes at the scene of the wreck directing traffic to keep the road clear and to prevent further accidents. They were relieved on arrival of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs and resumed their return trip to Elsinore where Inspector Curtis lived.

​

Reports of the accident revealed the government automobile left the highway on an "S" turn and crashed into a concrete abutment. Patrol Inspector Brown received severe lacerations on the face and was removed to the U.S. Naval Hospital, San Diego. Patrol Inspector Strobridge suffered a frontal fracture of the skull. He too was transported to the Naval Hospital where he passed away at 1:35 p.m. on March 7, 1933.