GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office is mourning the loss of one of its own.
Sheriff Stan Hilkey says 37-year-old Sergeant Jason Lhotka (LOT’-kuh) died yesterday during a climbing trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania, Africa.
The Grand Junction resident was on an extended vacation when he died at a base camp on the mountain.
Hilkey says the cause of death appears to be a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blood clot in the extremities breaks away and travels to the lungs.
Lhotka was a 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, having joined as a sheriff’s deputy in January 1997.
Hilkey called Lhotka a “true warrior” as the leader of the office’s Street Crimes Unit.
Services are pending.
Lhotka is survived by his wife, Elena, and their son, Nicolas.
