An Indiana deputy sheriff died after colliding with electricity lines, according to the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputy Fred Fislar was gravely injured on Monday, April 15, while responding to a single-vehicle incident near Plainfield, Indiana, late that evening, according to a statement given by Sheriff Jack Sadler at a press conference broadcast by NBC affiliate WTHR.
Fislar was “investigating a crash scene at State Road 267 and County Road 300 South” when he came into touch with live wires and was electrocuted, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
According to the Kansas City Star and WTHR, the sheriff’s office reported that a driver damaged a utility pole, leaving electrical lines hanging low beside the automobile.
Sadler revealed at the press conference that a driver noticed the deputy down at 11:57 p.m. local time and utilized his radio to notify dispatch of the situation.
Fislar was sent to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition, “after sustaining injuries from coming into contact” with the power wires, he said.
“Despite all life-saving measures,” Sadler stated, Fislar died shortly before 1 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16.
“It is a sad day for the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office and the community today,” the sheriff told reporters.
Fislar had served for the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office for over two years before his death. The sheriff says he leaves behind a wife and two children.
Authorities say Fislar was a Marine before joining the HCSO in 2021, according to the Star.
“We’re going to ask the community for prayers for Deputy Fislar’s family, our family, and our community during this difficult time,” Sadler said in a statement.
According to FOX station WXIN, police escorted Fislar’s body to the Marion County Coroner’s Office, where he was watched before being moved to the Hendricks County Coroner’s Office.
Rick Snyder, president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police, stated that “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.”
The driver of the automobile that hit the power pole was also taken to Eskenazi Hospital with critical injuries, according to Deputy Chief Joe Aldridge of WTHR. It is uncertain what their current situation is.