KERN COUNTY — Officials from the Kings County Sheriff's Office announced they have lost one of their own.Â
Deputy Thomas Olson, 30, took his own life Sunday in Kern County.
The sheriff's office found out Olson was having an off-duty mental health crisis and officials were able to locate his cell phone in Kern County, according to a media release.Â
Officials from the Kern County Highway Patrol and Kern County Sheriff's Office located Olson and conducted a traffic stop on his personal vehicle to check his welfare.Â
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Immediately upon making the stop, Olson took his own life. Â
Olson worked for the Kings County Sheriff's Office for six years and was previously enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. He was a hardworking employee with numerous accomplishments and awards in a short career, Sheriff David Robinson said in a statement.
"He was our peace officer of the year for the American Legion in 2015, spent four years working on our SWAT team and had been awarded a department Silver Star Medal for his heroic efforts in breaking up a burglary in progress, off duty, when the suspect tried to assault him for intervening," Robinson said in a statement. "We are saddened by the outcome of these events and have brought in peer counselors for members of our agency. We are also working with his wife and family to help them get through this tragedy."
Olson is survived by his wife of 10 years and their 5-year-old son. Kern County Highway Patrol and the Kern County Sheriff's Office are conducting an investigation.  Â
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