PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN Deputy Willard Truckenmiller with his two children. A GoFundMe account has been set up.

Capt. Todd Garrison, who oversees the Lee County Sheriff’s Office substation in Lehigh Acres, said area deputies are taking the death of their fellow officer, Deputy Willard Truckenmiller, very hard.

“It’s been rocky here for the past several days since we learned of Officer Truckenmiller’s death on May 4,” Garrison said. “He was part of our family and everyone is affected.”

Truckenmiller, 32, died after being asked to leave Shores Bar and Grill, where he was off duty and celebrating his birthday.

Garrison said nobody knows what happened. It was so sudden.

According to reports, Truckenmiller, a popular and well-liked deputy and after-hours football coach for Riverdale High School, was asked by an official at the venue to leave because at about 1:30 a.m. his demeanor had changed.

Willard Truckenmiller

He became upset because the bartender would no longer serve him and he became unruly, said Scott Moorey, the bar’s attorney in an interview with WTSP-TV.

“For safety concerns, they locked the door at the bar,” he said.

Because of the change in Truckenmiller’s demeanor, bar staffers called a Lee County non-emergency line. Moorey said they did not call 911 because nobody was trying to get him in trouble.

“They were concerned for him, but because of his actions, they felt one of his fellow deputies should come and calm him down,”?he said.

When they got there, they tried to talk to Truckenmiller and were unsuccessful in getting him to leave. They called 911 about 2 a.m. and said they thought he was having a “medical event.”

MEL TOADVINE Capt. Todd Garrison, left, and Lt. Mark Shelly, right, presented a special award to Deputy Willard Truckenmiller at the Greater Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce luncheon in November.

When he was put in the ambulance, he was conscious, but later died at Lee Memorial Hospital.

Garrison, his commander in Lehigh, said Truckenmiller was an outstanding deputy who was respected by everyone.

Truckenmiller was honored in late November of last year by the Greater Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce for outstanding police work when he was able to help a veteran who was suffering from a traumatic disorder.

A former Marine who had served in Vietnam needed help and Truckenmiller responded to an address on John Avenue to what had been reported as a disturbance involving a former member of the Marine Corps, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, episode.

The man was having an episode related to his medical condition and in addition to hallucinations regarding Vietnam, it was reported that he was in possession of a large number of firearms.

Truckenmiller, who was also a Marine Corps veteran, recognized the man from a previous encounter and recalled that he was also a former sniper.

Truckenmiller quickly established a rapport with the veteran based on their shared military background and was able to quickly deescalate the incident before summoning medial services to the scene.

The Lee County Sheriffs Office is investing the recent incident that left Truckenmiller dead, but as of late last week, could not say what caused the officer to die.

A funeral service was set for this past weekend at noon at the Crossroads Baptist Church on Palm Beach Boulevard.

Garrison said Truckenmiller had donated his organs so others may live and perhaps survive a medical problem.

The family had asked for privacy and did not talk to the media.

“I have never seen anything like this,” Garrison said. “He was so young and seemed to be in perfect health.”

He was called “Captain Truck” at Riverdale High, where he had attended school as a youth. Members of the football team said he would be missed.

He is survived by his children, Ayla Grace Truckenmiller and Thomas Willard Truckenmiller, and their mother Elaine Kirkland.

He is also survived by his parents, Terry and Dani Truckenmiller; sister, Jennifer Truckenmiller; twin brother, Christopher Truckenmiller; and grandparents, Willard and Joann Truckenmiller, and Daniel and Evelyn Edgerton.

In lieu of flowers, the family requested memorials be made in Truckenmiller’s name at Wells Fargo Bank.

Condolences may be expressed at: gendronfuneralhome.com.

The family wrote that Truckenmiller would always be “Our Hero.”

“From serving our country, to protecting our community, he selflessly gave of himself, never asking for anything in return. Willard was also a retired corporal with the United States Marine Corp.”