Listen Live

RISING SUN, Ind. – The chief of the Rising Sun, Ind. police department died Wednesday following a single-car crash in Switzerland County.

David Hewitt, 49, of Florence, crashed on State Road 56 south of Vevay at around 7:20 a.m, said the Switzerland County Sheriff’s Office.

He was flown to Carroll County Memorial Hospital in Carrollton, Ky., where he died.

Hewitt was a police officer in southeastern Indiana for nearly 30 years. He joined the Rising Sun Police Department in 1998 and was named Chief of Police in 2004.

“On behalf of the City of Rising Sun, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to Chief Hewitt’s family. I ask that everyone please respect the privacy of Chief Hewitt’s family and that we keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they deal with this tragic loss,” Rising Sun Mayor Brent Bascom said Wednesday.

Mayor Bascom has ordered all flags in the city to be flown at half-staff for 27 days — one day for each year of service Chief Hewitt gave to the citizens of the area.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but the sheriff’s office said icy road conditions are believed to have been a factor.

(Photo by Stockbyte Collection/Thinkstock.)