SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a deputy who was killed in a car crash while responding to another wreck on Interstate 49 northbound Friday morning.
According to CPSO, Auxiliary Deputy Lonnie Thacker, 82, was assisting with traffic control around 11:56 a.m. from a car crash between Louisiana Highways 530 and 170 when his patrol car was struck on the driver’s side by a 2021 Kia Seltos driven by 21-year-old Madison Campbell of Ida.
Thacker was inside the vehicle and died at the scene. Campbell was restrained at the time of the crash and was taken to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport with minor injuries.
“Lonnie Thacker was a dedicated member of the Caddo Sheriff’s Office and we are saddened by this loss,” Sheriff Steve Prator said in a released statement Friday.
“The contributions of our auxiliary deputies are so important to our operation and greatly valued by me and all of our deputies. I know he took pride in his work and enjoyed the contribution he was making to his community. His service will never be forgotten. We extend our most sincere sympathies to his family and ask that the community pray for them.”
CPSO says Deputy Thacker joined the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Program in May of 2001. The program enlists trained volunteers to assist in the Patrol Division and other areas of the department.
Dep. Thacker regularly logged over 500 volunteer hours a year helping patrol deputies with duties such as traffic control, funeral escorts, and neighborhood patrols, according to authorities.
It is said that Thacker was passionate about litter abatement and keeping the parish clean, and he assisted at many CPSO youth programs, including the Youth Firearms Safety Education Camp, Crime Scene Investigations (CSI) Camp, and Sheriff’s Safety Town.
“He was one of those all-around guys who if you asked him to do something he would do it, but he preferred being in a patrol car,” said Sgt. John Hay, who supervises the Auxiliary Program. Thacker previously served in the U.S. Army and retired from the Caddo Parish Commission in 2004.
The crash is being investigated by the Louisiana State Police at the request of the Caddo Sheriff’s Office.