William Gilbert Paterson
Lake County Sheriff's Department
Tuesday, January 25, 1994
Served: 18 years
Badge #: 236
Panel 43E, Line 19
Panel L19, Line 3
Incident Details
Cause of Death:Vehicle pursuit
Date/Time of Incident:
Tuesday, January 25, 1994
05:10 am
Incident to Death Duration:
Same day
Incident Location:
U.S. 30 and Randolph Street
Incident County:
Lake
Incident Township:
Ross
Weapon Used:
None
Suspect Disposition:
Died at the scene
Burial Place:
Calvary Cemetery, Portage
Sergeant William Paterson was killed in a two-vehicle accident during a high-speed pursuit of a stolen vehicle from Hamlet in Starke County.
As the pursuit entered Lake County, his patrol car was broadsided by the suspect's vehicle, which flipped over, caught fire and rolled into a ditch 170 feet from impact.
Sergeant Paterson was transported to Southlake Methodist Hospital in Merrillville where he died from massive head and chest injuries.
The 14-year-old male driver, who had walked away the day before from a substance abuse rehabilitation center in Grovertown, was also killed. Two male juvenile occupants in the vehicle were also injured in the accident.
Sergeant Paterson, from Merrillville, was survived by his wife, 15- and 20-year old daughters, and a 17-year-old son, who currently serves with the department.
Military Service
United States Air Force Reserve |
Historical Note • The 14-year-old offender is the youngest known to be involved in a line of duty death in Indiana. |
Lake County Sheriff's Department
Sergeant Paterson