On September 15, 1935, Officers Frank P. Franano, 40, and J.S. Snow were on patrol. They were traveling on Fifteenth Street, when they noticed a car containing two youths go by. The lights of the car were dim, so Officer Franano turned the patrol car around and followed them. The youths - Robert Hedrick and Claude Gregory - realized that the radio was decreasing the power of the headlights, so they turned it off. The officers continued to follow them, so Hedrick stopped the car at the edge of the train tracks on Fifteenth Street, near Carrington Avenue. Officer Franano drew up along side them, got out, and walked over to talk to Hedrick. He had just admonished him about driving with no headlights, when someone shouted that the train was coming. Officer Franano called for Snow and Hedrick to back off the tracks. The Missouri Pacific train reached them before either could get out of the way. The patrol car was hit first. It was slammed into Hedrick's car and Officer Franano - still between them - was crushed. The cars were picked up by the engine and carried. Hedrick's car went 26 feet before catching on a switch standard and falling free of the engine. The patrol car was carried 168 feet, and was still stuck to the engine when the train stopped. Snow, Hedrick, and Gregory were injured but survived. Officer Franano was dead by the time they reached him. In the statements of all three survivors, none could recall hearing the siren although it did sound.

Before joining the police department, Officer Franano had primarily been known as a musician in the Kansas City area, playing cornet. He had played with a number of orchestras, most often with those who performed for the movie theatres (silent movie era).