(La Porte County, IN) - A stretch of highway in the Michigan City area will be named after a police officer struck and killed years ago by a motor vehicle.
U.S. 12 will be named after James Kautz, who was chief of the Long Beach Police Department when killed nearly 30 years ago while at the scene of a three vehicle accident. He was directing traffic on U.S. 12 just east of Indiana 212 when struck by the vehicle.
Sheriff Ron Heeg made the announcement Wednesday during a meeting of the Sheriff’s Merit Commission.
“We’re going to have a sign made up and we’re going to present that to the Jim Kautz family,” he said.
He said the presentation will be May 15th at the Michigan City Fraternal Order of Police. The driver who struck Kautz was charged with reckless homicide. A jury later found him not guilty.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will name U.S. 12 the “Chief Marshal James R. Kautz Memorial Highway after a resolution to do so was adopted in the state legislature.
State Representative Randy Novak, who knew Kautz and lived in the area he served, called him “the embodiment of selfless public service” while testifying before a House committee.
Novak also said naming the highway after Kautz is a “permanent reminder that heroes come from our own neighborhoods, that their sacrifices matter and that Indiana will never forget those who gave everything to protect others.”
