Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
KCSD Salutes
Own
Today, as part of National Law Enforcement Week, is a memorial day for fallen officers. In Kosciusko County, nearly 10 years ago, a sheriff's deputy was killed in the line of duty. Det. Sgt. Phil Hochstetler, 31, died after being shot by David Swearingen. Hochstetler was at the residence investigating a possible burglary suspect when he met his untimely death.
Hochstetler, along with Swearingen's two young children were killed that night. A three-day manhunt ensued and ended with a deadly shootout on Center Street and Swearingen's death.
On June 29, the 10th anniversary of Hochstetler's death, the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department will hold a memorial service in his honor.
****
You can't mention his name in Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department without getting a smile from those who knew him.
"A jokester," "ornery," "shy," "sharp," "an excellent officer," are words used to describe Phil Hochstetler.
And his favorite saying, when things were going bad, is still popular among officers. "When something was going wrong, he'd say 'damn the bad luck!' and we'd all smile," Sgt. Chad Hill said.
"He was shy until you got to know him," Sheriff Aaron Roverstine said, "but after you did, he just told stories and jokes."
Rovenstine said his favorite memory from his days as a deputy, working with Hochstetler, was how he was always around and always ready with a joke. "It could be 2 o'clock in the morning and we'd be filling out our reports, and he'd just pop up out of nowhere," Rovenstine said, smiling at the memory.
But Hochstetler wasn't just all jokes and stories. He also was an excellent detective.
Hochstetler started at the sheriff's department in 1990, as an undercover officer with the Drug Task Force. Prior to that, he was an officer in Nappanee from 1987-1990 and named Officer of The Year in 1988.
As an undercover officer with the task force, he was so good he went undetected even by other members of the sheriff's department. Officer Charlene Johnson said she was with the department at least six months before she learned that Hochstetler was an officer.
Eventually he moved up through the ranks, becoming head of the task force and later a detective.
Former sheriff, Al Rovenstine, also said Hochstetler was a good police officer.
When asked what his favorite memory was of Hochstetler, the former sheriff laughed. There is no particular memory, but he said Hochstetler had loved to pick on him, good-naturedly. Al Rovenstine said he was an ornery, funloving man.
While most memories of Hochstetler bring happiness to the officers who worked with him, his death and its aftermath still bring tears to the eyes of senior officers.
Hochstetler had three young sons, twins, age 7, and another boy age 4.
Hill said he remembers when Hochstetler used to bring the kids to the department with him sometimes. And he remembers seeing those little boys at their father's funeral.
"Those boys, losing their father so young..." Curtis said, his eyes tearing up. "It was hard...seeing those boys."
After Hochstetler's untimely death cards and sympathy notes poured in from across the country and some, even internationally.
One, from Warsaw Police Department best summed up the situation.
"It is not how you died, Phil, that made you a hero. It is how you lived."
