The widow of a deputy sheriff who died during a training exercise last year is suing the Evansville Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff’s Department in Indiana, claiming the “hazing-styled exercise” featuring rough combat that put the new recruit in unnecessary danger and led to his death.
Representing her late husband Asson Hacker’s estate, Kourtney Hacker filed the wrongful death lawsuit in Vanderburgh Superior Court on Sept. 3.
Hacker, 33, died on March 2, 2023, after participating in a training event called “The Big Fight” at Club Bushido, a martial arts center, a mandatory part of his basic training with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the complaint, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, “The Big Fight” required cadet recruits to square off inside a “fighting circle” of spectators against veteran officers in an “MMA or UFC style fight” intended to last five minutes.
Hacker was assigned to fight Maj. Michael Fisher, who worked for the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and also served as an instructor for the Southwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Evansville, operated by the Evansville Police Department.
Fisher weighed significantly more than Hacker, the complaint says, and had more fighting experience. During their encounter, which lasted seven minutes, “Fisher proceeded to … choke, strangle, hit, punch, kick and body slam Hacker,” and “impeded his ability to breathe.” He used physical tactics against Hacker “that would be deemed an excessive use of force by department standards.”
The lawsuit alleges that Garrett Vanfleet, an Evansville Police officer who was a police academy instructor and the coach for the fight, did not stop the fight after five minutes and encouraged Hacker and Fisher to continue fighting despite Hacker’s “obvious signs of exhaustion.”
At the end of the filmed fight, Hacker is seen in the video “lying motionless on the fighting surface.” Despite obvious signs that he needed immediate medical assistance, the lawsuit alleges, none was provided “for a significant period of time,” while several more fights between cadets and instructors ensued.
Hacker was taken to the hospital by Evansville Police and admitted to the emergency facility at 12:06 p.m. He was declared dead at 4:30 p.m.
The Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office determined that Hacker’s death was from “natural causes” and “the result of exertional sickling and sickle cell trait,” a finding that induced the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office to institute new screening protocols to identify cadets who could be at risk of developing the condition, according to the Evansville Courier & Press.
Exertional sickling is a potentially life-threatening condition resulting from the sickling of red blood cells during intense exercise. It results in muscular collapse, breathing and serious metabolic problems, and is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment.
Last July, a Denver police officer with sickle cell trait who claimed he lost both of his legs during a similar police arrest and seizure training known as “Fight Day” filed suit against the Denver Police Department.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Asson Hacker does not mention exertional sickling or sickle cell disease.
The lawsuit says his death was the result of “negligent, reckless and/or criminal conduct” by Fisher and Vanfleet, who are named individually in the lawsuit, as well by the dangerous and negligent “policies, procedures, customs and/or practices” of the city of Evansville, its police department, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Department.
It faults the law enforcement agencies for failing to properly supervise, train, and/or enforce policies to provide a safe training program for cadets and says they should have staffed the martial arts venue with adequate medical personnel and provided immediate and proper medical care to Hacker.
“The ‘Big Fight’ was not a legitimate training exercise but rather a state[-]sponsored hazing event that created an obviously dangerous situation,” the complaint argues.
Neither the Evansville Police Department nor the Knox County Sheriff’s Department immediately responded to Atlanta Black Star’s interview requests.
The Evansville Police Department previously called “The Big Fight” a “routine physical tactics” training commonly held by the law enforcement academy, according to the Evansville Courier & Press, which noted that a post by Evansville Police on its Facebook page in 2022 showed recruits and instructors in sparring gear at Club Bushido. The post stated that cadets were paired with defensive tactics instructors at the conclusion of their training to “use the tactics they’ve learned in a scenario,” which could include handcuffing, grappling, shoulder pins and other techniques.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, Asson’s former employer, released a statement last week that it “continues to mourn” Hacker’s “tragic and untimely passing.
“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,” the release said.
Last March, on the anniversary of his death, the Vanderburgh Sheriff’s Office published a remembrance of Hacker that noted he was born in Queens, New York, and later earned an associate’s degree at Olney Central College in Illinois, where he also played basketball.
“Asson worked as a coal miner before pursuing his dream of being in law enforcement by joining the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department in December of 2022,” it noted.
Asson was survived by his wife and three dependent children, who are minors, the lawsuit said.
Kourtney Hacker seeks a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages, including medical, hospital, funeral and burial expenses and “lost earnings of the decedent resulting from the wrongful act or omission, and loss of love, care and affection.”
