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Clarence ‘Red’ Stromwell Dies; Judge, Famed LAPD Detective

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Legendary Los Angeles Police Det. Clarence “Red” Stromwell--who wore a trademark fedora while chasing robbers and the black robes of a judge when sentencing them--has died.

Stromwell was 72 when he died of heart failure Friday at his La Canada home, a police spokeswoman said Saturday.

The son of an LAPD robbery detective, Stromwell was a member of the department’s famed “hat squad” in the 1950s and ‘60s. It was a four-man team that investigated bank robberies and was distinguished by the wide-brimmed hats that each detective wore.

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“It was very rare you pulled out your gun,” Stromwell told The Times after his retirement from the Police Department in 1967. “They’d see us coming . . . and put up their hands.”

Stromwell joined the district attorney’s staff after retirement and was named a Municipal Court judge by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972. He served on the Superior Court from 1984 until his second retirement in 1991.

He is survived by his wife, JoAnne, and a number of children and grandchildren. Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday in the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, the spokeswoman said.

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