Hutchinson will host police to honor fallen

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: April 30, 2009 - 11:30 PM

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The Hutchinson Police Department, which lost to gunfire one of its officers in the line of duty nearly 20 years ago, is hosting this year's ecumenical service honoring fallen members of law enforcement in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association's 27th annual service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Anastasia Catholic Church, 460 Lake St. SW. in Hutchinson.

In December 1989, Hutchinson officer Michael Hogan was shot and killed after responding to a reported shoplifting at a J.C Penney.

Phillip L. Cole, of Minneapolis, and three friends had gone to Hutchinson to shoplift and then return the goods for cash.

As Hogan and a store manager questioned Cole in a stockroom, Cole stepped away from Hogan, pulled out a pistol and shot him above the left eye.

Hogan, 43, was taken to Hutchinson Community Hospital, where the husband and father of three was pronounced dead.

The 29-year-old Cole fled, commandeering a car and its two occupants, forcing them to drive him to Minneapolis.

Three days later, he stole another car, assaulted the driver and held her hostage. Police chased them into McLeod County, where Cole crashed the car. He fled to a Lester Prairie farmhouse, where he held a couple and their 2-year-old daughter hostage. He surrendered the next day.

A McLeod County jury convicted him of first-degree murder-intentional killing of a police officer; intentional second-degree murder; five counts of second-degree assault, and other charges. He was sentenced to life in prison and is serving his time at Stillwater prison.

For more about Sunday's service, go to www.tinyurl. com/michaelhogan.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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