Patrolman Neil Thompson was killed when a man fleeing other officers in a stolen ambulance intentionally rammed his patrol car.

   He had parked his marked squad car off the east side of State Road 39 over 1,720 feet south of U.S. 6 to avoid the oncoming speeding ambulance.

   As the driver of the Nappanee ambulance stolen from Elkhart General Hospital approached the squad car, he swerved from the roadway and intentionally struck it head-on causing Patrolman Thompson to die at the scene.

   The 38-year-old suspect was later found guilty but mentally ill and was sentenced to eight years for reckless homicide and four years for theft.

   Patrolman Thompson, from La Porte, was survived by his wife, parents, brother and sister.