Deputy Sheriff Arvin Kays died from injuries he suffered over 21 years earlier when he was involved in a two-vehicle accident at 38th Street and Georgetown Road in Indianapolis.

   He was traveling eastbound and turning left onto Georgetown Road when he was struck by a westbound vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. The 17-year-old driver, who was treated and released at the scene, had skidded 216 feet in an attempt to avoid the collision before knocking down the traffic signal that was changing.

   The squad car of Deputy Kays was spun around and struck a concrete wall head-on in the northwest corner of the intersection. After being initially taken to County General Hospital with head and internal injuries, he was transferred to Methodist Hospital with a spinal cord injury.

   He remained in a coma for 80 days, becoming permanently disabled as a quadriplegic, was medically retired from the department and died nearly 22 years later at Methodist Hospital from complications of his injuries.

   Deputy Sheriff Kays, from Indianapolis, was assigned to the warrant division. He was survived by his son, daughter, mother, brother, sister and grandson.

This officer has been approved as an eligible line of duty death by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and will be honored during Police Week 2025.