PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Those who knew a Hendricks County sheriff's deputy who died while responding to a crash late Monday are mourning his loss and celebrating his life.
Deputy Fred Fislar was doing his job Monday night, just like he's done for the past 2 1/2 years, working for the Hendricks County Sheriff's Department.
This time, though, he didn't get the chance to come home at the end of his shift.
According to the Hendricks County Sheriff's Department, a call came in late Monday night for a car that had crashed into a utility pole on South State Road 267, just north of Plainfield. The pole was shattered, with electrical wires hanging down.
Fislar got to the scene just before midnight.
Minutes later, according to the sheriff's department, a passerby found him on the ground and used Fislar's police radio to call for help.
Investigators say Fislar had come into contact with the hanging electrical lines. He died a short time later at Eskenazi Hospital.
"Our heart is broken," Hendricks County Sheriff Jack Sadler said Monday morning.
Plainfield police are now handling the original crash investigation, where they suspect the driver who crashed into the utility pole was impaired.
According to Plainfield police, that person is in serious condition.
"The good Lord alone has a plan, we don't understand that plan, but what I do know is what he did is go to a scene of an accident with the bravery of not knowing what he's getting into, and for him to stand back and take on that challenge, that's just Fred," said Tom Winders, standing outside the Hendricks County Sheriff's Department, near Fislar's patrol car, which has been covered with flowers and mementos.
Winders, who was Fislar's high school football coach, was among dozens of friends and family who came out Tuesday to honor their friend.
"I would say I looked at him as my son," said Winders, explaining that before he went in the United States Marine Corps after graduating high school, Fislar lived with Winders' family for a short time in Cloverdale, where Fislar grew up.
"When I say 'Pride of Cloverdale,' he had the heart, the heart to win," Winders said.
Fislar also had a heart for his family. Winders said Fislar married the girl he'd been in love with since the fifth grade, his now-wife, Maddy.
"I was like, 'You're going to break every wedding record there is because you're going to be married for like 90 years,'" Winders recalled, explaining that Fislar and his wife have a 6-year-old son, Leo, and a 6-month-old baby girl named Bradley.
"They are surrounded by a ton of family members that will be there to support," Winders said.
Some of that support could be seen Tuesday, through tears of sorrow and thanks from a grateful community.
"Very proud of him. It's a very tough loss for our community and for this community," Winders said.