Date of Incident: Friday, December 9, 1983

Sgt. Rigoni was the pilot of an airplane that crashed into Lake Erie 12/09/1983. On board was Deputy Bruce E. Mettler (Ottawa County) and Dispatcher Michael L. Sweeney (Put-In-Bay). The three officers were on an emergency flight during bad weather to Kellys Island to assist the Kellys Island Police Chief, who was suffering a heart attack. All three men on board lost their lives when the plane went down.