Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Springer suffered a fatal heart attack following a struggle to take a mentally deranged suspect into protective custody. Sergeant Springer and another officer were trying to transport the civilian to the Van Wert Mental Health Facility when the person became ill. Sergeant Springer and the other officer struggled to put the civilian into the patrol car when Sergeant Springer started having chest pains. He was transported to Van Wert County Hospital where he had a massive heart attack from which he did not recover. Sergeant Springer had been with the Coldwater Police Department for 20 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his daughter and son.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-05E8AB8A- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
20 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Springer gave the Coldwater Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Coldwater community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Springer.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Douglas Duane Springer is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OH, 43 of 991 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Douglas Duane Springer's cause is highlighted.
How Douglas Duane Springer Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Douglas Duane Springer is highlighted in Aug.