Deputy Sheriff Bruce E. Mettler

Bruce E. Mettler

Deputy Sheriff Bruce Mettler, Sergeant Robert Rigoni of the Port Clinton Police Department, and Dispatcher Michael Sweeney of the Put-in-Bay Police Department were killed when the plane they were riding in crashed into Lake Erie.

The officers were traveling to assist a police chief on a neighboring island who was suffering a heart attack. All four occupants of the plane were killed in the accident.

Deputy Mettler was a U.S. Army veteran and served with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office for two years. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, two sons, a stepson, mother, sister, and brother.