MOROCCO, Ind. (AP) - A power line knocked down in a traffic accident fatally shocked a Newton County sheriff’s deputy who had gone to investigate the crash on Monday, police said.
Investigators did not immediately know how Deputy Craig Blann came into contact with the power line, the Sheriff’s Department said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The line was knocked down when the driver of a car told police she swerved to avoid a deer on the rural road about 50 miles northwest of Lafayette and struck a utility pole. The car rolled onto its top, but the 18-year-old driver was not injured.
The driver went to her home to report the crash, and Blann spoke with her there before going to the crash scene, where he was shocked.
Blann, 27, had been a sheriff’s deputy for four years after working as a county jailer and a deputy marshal for the town of Kentland. He was married and had two children, ages 4 and 16 months.
He was the first Newton County officer killed in the line of duty, the Sheriff’s Department said.
“Craig was an exemplary officer and always represented the people of Newton County with the greatest service and professionalism,” Sheriff Myron Sutton said. “You could not ask for a better person.”