Deputy Chris Dewey Honored, Remembered

MINNEAPOLIS - Thousands of Minnesota law enforcement officers gathered Wednesday to honor and remember Mahnomen County Deputy Chris Dewey.

Dewey died at 10:33 a.m. on Aug. 9 with family members at his side in Cambridge.
“Chris's long and painful battle is over,” Dewey’s family wrote in his CaringBridge journal. “At 10:33 a.m. he went peacefully with the Lord.”

About 2,100 people including law enforcement personnel, Dewey's family and friends and others attended the service at Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park. A processional followed to the Crystal Lake Cemetery in north Minneapolis.

The Forum of Fargo reports that Dewey's sister-in-law Hannah Bergman said Wednesday at his funeral in Brooklyn Park that she always considered him a hero -- even before the shooting 18 months ago that ultimately took his life.

Dewey’s recovery took a turn for the worse, and the deputy spent his final weeks and days in hospice care.

Last month, Chris Dewey had the chance to see one of his more recent wishes come true – the destruction of specially constructed helmet he hated having to wear to protect his head during recovery. The Minneapolis Police Bomb Squad set the helmet on top of explosives in a field and let Dewey and his wife Emily push the button to blast it to pieces.

After first seeming to recover quickly in the first days after he was shot, Dewey, 27, suffered a series of setbacks, including a major brain hemorrhage. He spent time at a rehabilitation hospital in Colorado before returning to Minnesota earlier this year. The latest setback was a collapsed lung resulting in fluid buildup in his chest.

Chris Dewey was shot in the head and abdomen in February 2009 while investigating what started as a report of a drunken driver. He was gunned down while checking out a subsequent report of shots fired. An ensuing nine-hour standoff ended after two suspects surrendered.

At the request of Mahnomen County officials, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is taking over the prosecution of Thomas Lee Fairbanks , the alleged shooter of Deputy Dewey.

The attorney general said state prosecutors expect to file upgraded criminal charges against Fairbanks.

Fairbanks was previously charged with the following counts: Attempted Murder in the First Degree; nine counts of Assault in the First Degree; Assault in the Second Degree; Attempted Motor Vehicle Theft; Failure to Render Assistance; and Felon in Possession of a Firearm.