Friend of 'Hutch' remembers deputy as 'big teddy bear'
The law enforcement vehicles just kept coming Tuesday morning. Many from the Travis County Sheriff's Office but also from as far away as Tyler and Lubbock. Just to give you an idea, Shoreline Church is about 4 miles away. When the front of the procession got to the cemetery the tail was still at the church.
Travis County Sheriff's Office Deputy Sgt. Craig Hutchinson was laid to rest with full police honors.
"I hate having to meet my old friends this way but...its just one of those things. Times now are crazy," said T.R. Brown. Brown is a retired Travis County Deputy. He worked alongside the man everyone called "Hutch" for 25 years. "Hutch, we backed each other up many many times back in the days when there was only four of us running the county so...I'm going to miss him," he said.
Brown describes his friend as a 'big teddy bear.' "Hutch was a great guy. Yeah, he was big and I mean big. He was about 6 foot 6, probably 260, 270 but that guy, I mean he'd give you the shirt off his back," Brown said.
The two had something in common: motorcycles.
"The first time I met him he was on a Harley and as tall as Hutch is, looked like a scooter," he said.
Brown says Hutchinson believed in being a fair law enforcement officer. The last time Brown spoke with Hutch was shortly after retirement. Brown stopped by East Command to say 'hello' to his old friends.
"He was asking me how retirement was and everything and I told him the difference between on-duty and being technically permanently off-duty was the fact of...lack of stress. You get to basically enjoy what you're doing and...he was looking forward to that," Brown said.
The Travis County Sheriff's Office provided the following information for donations to the family:
"The Sheriff's Memorial & Benevolent Society of Travis County, Inc. (SMBS) is accepting donations on behalf of the Hutchinson family. Checks may be mailed to the Sheriff's Memorial and Benevolent Society of Travis County, Inc. P. O. Box 252, Del Valle, Texas 78617. (Tax ID 01-0722641) Be sure to note "Hutchinson Fund" on the check. Cash donations may be dropped off at Travis County Sheriff's Office Central Command, located at 5555 Airport Blvd., Austin TX, 78751. Credit Card donations are not accepted."