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From officers he served with to the governor of the state he served, Sgt. Brett Lange was honored this week as a man of quiet heroics who worked some of the most dangerous assignments imaginable.
Lange, 48, collapsed Thursday after leaving a Houma restaurant and was transported to Terrebonne General Medical Center where he later died. The cause of death has not been determined but was determined to be natural.
“Sgt. Lange was a respected trooper, but more importantly, a proud husband and father,” said Louisiana State Police commander Mike Edmonson, after learning of the supervisor’s passing.
Lange was laid to rest Monday after services at St. Joseph Church in Centerville.
A 23-year state police veteran, Lange’s last assignment was at the Houma field office of the Bureau of Investigation. He had in the past worked with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Franklin Police Department.
Blayne Bergeron, a special agent with the US Department of Homeland Security assigned to Houma, worked frequently with Lange on drug investigations. They met 20 years ago, and according to Bergeron he was an unforgettable officer.
“He was fantastic in his dedication,” Bergeron said. “Anytime our agency needed anything he would drop what he was doing and come to our aid. It didn’t matter what time of the day, if it was a holiday or a weekend.”
Lange frequently worked in an undercover capacity on drug investigations, infiltrating dangerous cadres of dealers and distributors.
Gov. Bobby Jindal recalled his knowledge of Lange’s undercover work, calling his death a “tragic, tragic set of circumstances and a reminder for all of us that life is precious.”
“It is also a great reminder for all of us to thank these men and women who put on a uniform, whether state police, local police, sheriff’s office or the military. They run toward danger, not away from danger, so that we can be free.”
“He had a very distinguished career,” Jindal said. “His colleagues think of him as the utmost professional and one of the nicest law enforcement professionals. We are sorry to lose a hero, and it is important to know that he is a hero.”
