Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Florida
End of Watch Sunday, March 31, 2002
Add to My HeroesDonald Lee Schavolt
Deputy Donald Schavolt suffered a fatal heart attack after being kicked in the chest by a juvenile suspect during an arrest attempt in the Casa Del Monte Mobile Home Park.
He and three other deputies had responded to a noise complaint and found the suspect lying in the street when they arrived. The suspect violently resisted arrest and it took four deputies to restrain him.
Deputy Schavolt transported the suspect to a local medical center where he again resisted. Later, Deputy Schavolt went and sat down inside at the hospital and then collapsed. The suspect was charged as a juvenile with second-degree murder, and resisting arrest with violence as a result of Deputy Schavolt's death.
An autopsy determined that Deputy Schavolt's heart attack did not directly result from being kicked in the chest. The suspect's charges were reduced to felony battery, resisting arrest, and two counts of misdemeanor assault.
Deputy Schavolt is survived by his wife and four children.
Bio
- Age 48
- Tour 12 years
- Badge 3721
Incident Details
- Cause Heart attack
- Weapon Person; Alcohol involved
- Offender Charged with assault
Most Recent Reflection
View all 54 ReflectionsI was working the ER the night you came in. Every year my husband and myself we go to the Police Ball (which was last night) you are of course one of the deputies honored in a video, and I get tears in my eyes because I saw you doing your paperwork and we had a brief conversation before you collapsed. I had just come off of maternity leave a month before. This is one night in my ER career I will NEVER forget! I haven’t written before because i’m new to this site and I didn’t know this site went back this far. May god continue to give your family strength. God Bless them and may you continue to R.I.P
wife of LT William Pinto Barbara Pinto
Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office
June 9, 2019
Recent LODD Deaths

Officer Byron Don Shields
United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations, US
EOW: January 20, 2021

Police Officer Martez "Tez" Hughes
Louisville Metro Police Department, KY
EOW: November 19, 2020

Detective Sergeant Stephen R. Desfosses
Norton Police Department, MA
EOW: January 13, 2021

Lieutenant Treva Preston
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division, TX
EOW: January 15, 2021

Police Officer Jerry Steven Hemphill
Lanier Technical College Police Department, GA
EOW: January 16, 2021

Sergeant J. L. "Buck" Dancy
North Little Rock Police Department, AR
EOW: December 2, 2020

Lieutenant Jeff Bain
DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, AL
EOW: January 3, 2021

Correctional Officer David A. Christensen
Washington State Department of Corrections, WA
EOW: December 29, 2020

Lieutenant John Reynolds
Garden Grove Police Department, CA
EOW: January 17, 2021