HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – The family of Vanderburgh Sheriff Deputy Asson Hacker has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Evansville Police Department, the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and Southwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
Deputy Asson Hacker passed away on March 2, 2023 due to exertional sickling due to sickle cell trait while completing tier one basic training. The lawsuit filed by Kourtney Hacker alleges that Hacker’s death was the result of a dangerous martial arts event that was required to complete his training.
VCSO remembers deputy’s passing one year later According to the lawsuit, Hacker was required to participate in an event at Club Bushido that was referred to as the “Big Fight”. The lawsuit says during this event, training cadets were required to participate in a fight with a veteran police officer.
Major Michael Fisher of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department was paired with Hacker. During the fight, the lawsuit says video of the fight shows Fisher choking, strangling, punching and body slamming Hacker. The lawsuit notes that physical tactics used against Hacker impeded his ability to breathe and would have been deemed an excessive use of force by department standards.
The lawsuit calls the “Big Fight” a “rite of passage for recruits”, and a “hazing styled exercise, as opposed to a legitimate training exercise.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Garret Vanfleet of the Evansville Police Department did not stop the fight and encouraged the two to continue to fight, despite Hacker showing signs of exhaustion. The suit claims Vanfleet was also supposed to stop the fight after five minutes, but the spar went on for more than seven minutes.
After the fight, Hacker was reportedly seen on video lying motionless on the fighting surface. Despite this, the suit claims no immediate medical assistance was provided to Hacker and several more fights between cadets and instructors occurred before he was taken to a hospital by officers from the Evansville Police Department.
Hacker was admitted to a local hospital at 12:06 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m.. At the time, the coroner listed his cause of death as natural.
The lawsuit says Fisher and Vanfleet’s conduct was willful and wanton, grossly negligent, reckless and or criminal. It also says failure by the defendants caused the wrongful death of Hacker and violated his 14th amendment rights.
On Monday, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement on the lawsuit:
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office continues to mourn the tragic and untimely passing of Deputy Asson Hacker. His loss is deeply felt by all who knew him, and our thoughts remain with his family, friends and colleagues.
While the Sheriff’s Office is not a named party in the lawsuit filed by Deputy Hacker’s estate, we are closely monitoring the developments in this case. We believe many of the allegations contained within the complaint are either inaccurate or misleading. We anticipate that the defendants in this case will present a robust defense to ensure that the facts are fully and fairly represented in court
Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office
You can read the full lawsuit in the window below:
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