Van fatally strikes town marshal during police pursuit in Randolph County
LYNN, Ind. (WRTV) — Lynn Town Marshal Bradley Fisher died Wednesday morning after being struck by a stolen van during a police pursuit in Randolph County, the Indiana State Police said.
The woman being pursued was in jail Wednesday night. The Randolph County Sheriff’s Department requested that State Police investigate the fatal pursuit.
About 8:30 a.m., a Randolph County sheriff’s deputy spotted a van near County Road 400 West and County Road 50 South matching the description of a reported stolen vehicle. The driver, identified as 34-year-old Maci Marquelle Atkinson of Winchester, had active felony warrants. The deputy activated emergency lights to initiate a high-risk traffic stop, but Atkinson fled, leading deputies on an eastbound chase on U.S. 36 toward Lynn.
Fisher, a 27-year member of the Lynn Police Department, positioned himself near the intersection of U.S. 27 and U.S. 36 ahead of the pursuit to deploy tire-deflation devices and safely end the chase. While standing behind his department truck and attempting to move into a ditch, the suspect vehicle veered toward him and struck him head-on, state police said. The van continued eastbound, lost control, and hit a dump truck, ending the pursuit.
Fisher was taken to Ascension St. Vincent Randolph Hospital in Winchester, where he died of injuries sustained in the crash.
Authorities took Atkinson to the hospital for treatment. After her release from the hospital, she was taken to the Randolph County jail, where she was being held on the felony warrant. Additional criminal charges are expected following the state police investigation.
Court records show Atkinson faces multiple pending charges, including unlawful possession of a syringe, battery, possession of narcotics and marijuana, resisting law enforcement, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and operating a vehicle while in possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance. A warrant was issued for Atkinson on Tuesday after she left an inpatient treatment facility. She pleaded guilty to false informing in 2020.
Lynn is a town of about 950 residents, roughly 90 minutes northeast of Indianapolis, near the Indiana-Ohio border.
Sgt. Scott Keegan of the state police Pendleton district said of the death, “The initial reaction was shock. This is such a close-knit community. It’s going to affect a lot of people. It’s a very tragic time for this community and for the individuals who were hands-on with this town marshal.”
Fisher’s son was recently sworn in as a deputy for the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, according to a Facebook post.
Town reacts to marshal’s death
Hours after Fisher’s death, many of his family and friends gathered outside the Lynn Municipal Building, which houses the town’s police and fire departments, to mourn.
As a police officer lowered the flag to half-staff, Fisher’s friend Daniel Frye called him “a giver.”
Frye said that in addition to being the town marshal, Fisher was the town’s fire captain, was in charge of the town’s streets, and served as a baseball umpire. He noted that Fisher’s two children followed him into public service, one as a sheriff’s deputy and the other as a schoolteacher.
Elsewhere in town, Ruben Delapaz said of Fisher, “He was a real good guy. … He’s going to be missed. People don’t know what we lost.”
Delapaz remembered a time when Fisher found Delapaz’s son after the boy had gotten lost.
“Brad found him … and brought him home, talked to us, made sure he was going to be fine and everything,” Delapaz said. “We definitely appreciated him and thanked him a lot for that. … Rest in peace, buddy.”
On behalf of the Fisher family, Randolph Southern School Corp. will hold a vigil at 7 p.m. Thursday on the baseball diamond in Lynn to honor Fisher.
