End Of Watch: Jason Dobbins remembered by fellow officers, WPD 'shocked'
End Of Watch: Jason Dobbins remembered by fellow officers, WPD 'shocked'
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Amanda Bridgman-abridgman@timesuniononline.com
End Of Watch: Jason Dobbins remembered by fellow officers, WPD 'shocked'Warsaw Police Officer Jason Dobbins died Saturday following complications from an emergency surgery. Dobbins was 50 years old.
Dobbins’ unexpected death started with a Jan. 24 emergency incident while the officer was on duty.
“He had just begun his tour of duty with the afternoon shift,” WPD Public Information Officer Det. Brad Kellar said. “Seconds later, at approximately 2:26 p.m., Jason contacted Central Dispatch stating that he needed an ambulance for an unknown medical problem. Warsaw officers and Lutheran medical personnel responded to a business address on the north end of the city where he had pulled over and parked his patrol car. Officer Dobbins was suffering from extreme chest pain and was rushed to Kosciusko Community Hospital with the assistance of a police escort. A short time after being admitted to the emergency room at KCH, the on-call doctor recognized that Jason was suffering from a critical heart condition.”
Weather conditions prevented Lutheran Air from picking Dobbins up, Kellar said, so he was rushed by ambulance to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
“Merely traveling to Fort Wayne was extremely risky in his current medical condition and the surgery that followed had a greater chance of a bleak outcome. However, Jason made it through the surgery and we were thankful and anticipating a long but successful recovery. In the days to come after surgery, complications surfaced. The Warsaw Police Department is shocked and saddened at the sudden course of events that have led to today’s heartbreaking news.”
Dobbins began his career with the Plymouth Police Department, working there from 2004 to 2012. He joined the Warsaw Police Department in 2012 as a patrol officer, working the afternoon and midnight shifts.
In the spring of 2013, Dobbins joined the Warsaw Dive Team and served as one of the members always on-call for any situation on or under water.
R.J. Nethaway was Dobbins’ second-shift supervisor and dive team supervisor.
“He loved to make people laugh. He had a great sense of humor, and he was devoted to his friends and his community,” Nethaway said. “I want people to know who he is and that he just was a well-rounded officer. He was one of the most highly certified rescue divers that we had. He loved the dive team and put a ton of his time and effort into that. Actually, one of the last conversations we had was about him going to go get additional certifications and he wanted to go get certified in swift water training.”
Nethaway said he didn’t get a chance to see Dobbins in the hospital, because by the time he could, visitors were limited to family members.
“His laugh was unique. He had this laugh. When he laughed a certain way, you kind of knew he was up to something. He was kind of a prankster,” Nethaway said. “We’re receiving a ton of support at WPD, and it’s been great having officers from this county and outside this county, former officers, retired officers, contacting us. We’re trying to support the family the best we can and provide them with the comfort of knowing that we love them and that he was admired by our department as being dedicated to the community.”
“I could trust him with my life,” WPD Officer Ross Minear said of Dobbins. “I’ve known him for eight years, worked with him for eight years and he was always the guy that you could count on making everybody laugh with his quick wit. His wit was hilarious, man, and the things he would say you’d be like, ‘That is hilarious!,’ and I would never thought of anything like that just about situations. We had a lot of good times together. He was a very knowledgeable officer you could always count on. If you didn’t know the answer, you thought he would probably know or could find out.”
WPD Officer Jordan Roberts and Dobbins were hired at the same time.
“If I wanted people to take anything away about him it’s that he was a good, hardworking person who would do anything for people he cared about and that he will be sorely missed by those who cared for him. He was a friend of mine, both at and outside of work. He was a great guy,” Roberts said, choked up with tears.
“Certainly it was quick and it was sudden and everyone is saddened by it,” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said. “Certainly our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go to his family. I know it’s been a very, very difficult week for them. He’s been under my administration for eight years, and I know he took his job very seriously, and I know he did a good job. I’ve had some recollections and stories of Jason, and I know his heart was in the right place.”
Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker said he and his department staff are in disbelief.
“Our staff members are still trying to process Jason’s passing,” Whitaker said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Dobbins’ family.”
Whitaker sent an email out to WPD staff after Dobbins died and said support through Chaplain Layne Sumner or Whitaker is available to anyone who needs to talk to someone.
Dobbins followed in his father’s footsteps, Ted Dobbins, who served the city of Warsaw as a police officer between 1965 and 1985.
Dobbins leaves behind his wife, Kara; a son, Hayden, 23; three daughters: Bayly, 20, Jaylyn, 18 and Payton, 14; as well as a stepson, Jake Crousore, 19.
“We ask that the Warsaw community help us as we surround the Dobbins family with love and support through this difficult time,” Kellar said.
Funeral arrangements are pending with McHatton-Sadler Funeral Chapel, Warsaw.
