Roll of Honor
Incident
Dispatcher Michael Sweeney, Deputy Sheriff Bruce Mettler of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, and Sergeant Rigoni of the Port Clinton 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. Dispatcher Sweeney had served with the Put-in-Bay Police Department for one year.
Survivors
He was survived by his parents, two brothers, and a sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-4B11F884- 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
You barely got started.
Dispatcher Sweeney gave the Put-in-Bay Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Put-In-Bay community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Dispatcher Sweeney.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Dispatcher Michael L. Sweeney is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OH, 318 of 991 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael L. Sweeney's cause is highlighted.
How Michael L. Sweeney Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael L. Sweeney is highlighted in Dec.