Deputy Asson Hacker of the Vanderburgh County (Indiana) Sheriff's Office died March 2, 2023, after suffering a medical emergency during training.Vanderburgh County SO
The widow of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Sheriff's Deputy Asson Hacker is suing the City of Evansville, its police department and police academy, alleging that city-led training put the deputy in unnecessary danger and led to his death.
Kourtney Hacker filed the suit in Vanderburgh County Superior Court as the administrator of her husband's estate, the Courier Press reports. She is represented by Indianapolis-based attorneys Charles Hayes and Steven Lammers, according to court records.
Hacker, 33, died on March 2, 2023, after he participated in what the Evansville Police Department called "routine physical tactics" training at the Southwestern Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. The academy trains EPD recruits alongside police and sheriff's office cadets from agencies spanning Southwestern Indiana.
On Tuesday, Hacker's estate filed a civil complaint that described the training that preceded Hacker's death as "a state-sponsored hazing event."
The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office determined Hacker's death was "natural" and the result of exertional sickling and sickle cell trait, a fact that spurred the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office to institute new screening protocols to identify cadets who could be at risk of developing the condition.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office released a statement Monday regarding the lawsuit, writing that the office "continues to mourn the tragic and untimely passing of Deputy Asson Hacker."
The 11-page civil complaint filed last week by Hacker's wife doesn't mention exertional sickling or sickle cell trait. Instead, it claims that SWILEA and its training staff put Hacker at undue risk of injury and death when it staged a series of physical confrontations it had reportedly dubbed "The Big Fight," wherein cadets were tasked with squaring off against experienced law enforcement officers.
