There will be a Memorial Service for retired Det. Cleave Bethea, Sr. in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, May 20, 2023, beginning at 2:00 p.m. at March Funeral Home, located at 2110 East Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23222; (804) 321-4200.
Det. Cleave Bethea, Sr. passed away on April 26, 2023. He was appointed to the NYPD on June 1, 1963, after serving in the United States Army. He was promoted to Detective on October 4, 1966, and retired March 23, 1977 out of the 73 Squad after being shot multiple times in the line of duty during a take-down in Brooklyn of two of the FBI’s most wanted. The story of the “Shoot-Out at the Big T Lounge” was featured in a 2010 issue of The Gold Shield magazine. You can read the story on the pdf link below:
