The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office says that an Indiana deputy sheriff died after going into power lines.
Sheriff Jack Sadler read a statement at a press conference that NBC station WTHR shared. It said that Deputy Fred Fislar was seriously hurt on April 15 while responding to a single-vehicle crash near Plainfield, Indiana, late that same day.
The Officer Down Memorial Page says that Fislar was “investigating a crash scene at State Road 267 and County Road 300 South” when he touched live lines and died.
The Kansas City Star and WTHR both reported that the sheriff’s office said a driver hit a utility pole, leaving low-hanging wires next to the car.
Sadler told the press conference that a driver saw the officer down at 11:57 p.m. local time and used his radio to call 911 to report the incident.
He also said that Fislar was taken to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition “after sustaining injuries from coming into contact” with the power lines.
“Despite all efforts to save his life,” Sadler said, Fislar passed away just before 1 a.m. on April 16.
“Today is a sad day for the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office and the community,” the sheriff told the press.
Before he died, Fislar had worked for the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office for more than two years. The sheriff says he leaves behind a wife and two children.
Authorities told the Star that Fislar was in the Marines before he joined the HCSO in 2021.
Sadler said Tuesday, “We’re going to ask the community to pray for Deputy Fislar’s family, our family, and our community during this hard time.”
News station WXIN reports that police took Fislar’s body to the Marion County Coroner’s Office and watched it until it could be taken to the Hendricks County Coroner’s Office.
According to Rick Snyder, head of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police, “an officer or Hendricks County Sheriff’s Deputy will stand and stay with Deputy Fislar from now until the time he is laid to rest.”
Deputy Chief Joe Aldridge told WTHR that the driver of the car that hit the utility pole was also taken to Eskenazi Hospital with major injuries. It’s not clear what their actual condition is.
