Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - The Indiana State Police Academy's class of 1998 is expected to reunite once again for the funeral of one of their own.
The funeral of Trooper Jason Beal will be held at 11 a.m., Jan. 20 at Shelbyville High School. Burial will take place afterward, at Forest Hill Cemetery.
On Saturday, Beal's family turned off the life-support equipment that was keeping him alive. Beal, who would have turned 25 on Sunday, died 22 minutes later. The trooper had been struck by a passing car on Ind. 14 Wednesday night as he tried to help a tow truck driver get a vehicle out of a ditch.
Teresa Cooper, 22, of North Manchester, lost control of her car as she approached the two on the icy roads, striking first the tow truck and then the trooper. No charges have been filed in the accident. Beal suffered massive head and internal injuries which, ultimately, proved too much for him to overcome.
'He kept giving us hope, he kept fighting,' said Trooper Chad Larsh, who trained Beal, patrolled with him in Kosciusko County and was a family friend. 'He fought right to the last minute, but the injuries were just so overwhelming.'
He is survived by his 21-year-old wife, Emily, who is due to give birth to their child in April.
Beal's death is all the more tragic because he is the third officer from his police academy class to die in the line of duty within the last 10 months.
Colleagues said that Beal, who was stationed at the Bremen post, had been expecting a transfer within the next few months and had planned to move his family closer to his hometown.
Larsh said Beal, who was from the Shelby County town of Fairland, was drawn to policing through his desire to serve people and to provide assistance.
State Police Sgt. Ted Knafel said Saturday the accident remained under investigation. Authorities have determined that drugs and alcohol did not play a role in the crash.
The Kosciusko County prosecutor will decide whether charges are warranted. Beal is survived by his wife, his parents, and brothers and sisters.
The accident was the latest tragedy to strike the State Police Academy's class of 1998. Two other graduates from that year, Troopers Richard Gaston, 29, and Cory Elson, 26, were killed last spring in separate incidents. Gaston was hit by a tractor-trailer on the Indiana Toll Road in March. Elson was fatally shot during a traffic stop less than a month later.
Eight Indiana troopers have been killed in the line of duty in the past 10 years, four of them run over on the road. The deaths led to legislation last year requiring motorists to change lanes or at least slow down when an emergency vehicle is stopped with its lights flashing.
'We try to be as safe as we can out here, and that's all that you can do,' said Trooper Paul Hewitt, who was the president of Beal's academy class.
'Of course we think about (the three deaths), but if anything that makes us more cautious than anyone, probably.'
