Grand jury indicts Muncie police officers accused of covering up excessive force against arrestees
…from CBS4 Indiana, via the Daily Beast
[ Editor’s Note: Local prosecutors picked up a three pack with this crew. Usually a good attorney from one of the victims was key to getting the story out, although that is not in the story below but possibly in the Scrib indictment.
It is unlikely this would be the first time these guys have roughed up arrestees. A good DA, if he had the time and the budget could, go over past arrests, but that can turn into a snake pit with stories being made up by other arrestees to get into the lawsuit lottery.
Witnesses make all the difference in these kinds of cases… Jim W. Dean ]
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First published … April 14, 2021
MUNCIE, Ind. – A grand jury indicted four Muncie police officers in connection with an excessive force and obstruction investigation.
According to federal prosecutors, officers Joseph Chase Winkle, 34, Jeremy Gibson, 30, and Corey Posey 28, and Sergeant Joseph Krejsa, 50, used excessive force against arrestees or tried to cover it up. Acting U.S. Attorney John Childress announced the charges Wednesday.
The 17-count indictment charges Winkle with 11 felony offenses, Gibson with three felony offenses, Krejsa with two felony offenses, and Posey with one felony offense.
Winkle is accused of depriving five different arrestees of their right to be free from excessive force and six counts of writing false reports about his use of force. He’s accused of kicking, punching, knee-striking and using a Taser on arrestees without justification, resulting in injuries.
Gibson is charged with two counts of depriving two arrestees of their rights to be free from excessive force, and one count of writing a false report about his use of force against one of them. The indictment alleges that Gibson’s actions included punching, stomping on, and knee-striking arrestees without justification, resulting in injuries.
Krejsa is charged with writing false reports related to two excessive force incidents involving Winkle. The indictment alleges that Krejsa, on one occasion, minimized the level of force used by Winkle during one arrest, and, on another occasion, falsely represented that a different Muncie Police Department sergeant cleared Winkle—even though it was Krejsa who’d conducted the review.
Posey is charged writing a false report related to one of Winkle’s excessive force incidents. Posey misrepresented the arrestee’s behavior, the indictment alleged, and mischaracterized and omitted Winkle’s unlawful use of force during the incident.
Previously, Winkle, Gibson and Krejsa were charged in a 12-count indictment with civil rights and obstruction offenses stemming from five of the six incidents mentioned in the indictment.
The maximum penalty for the deprivation-of-rights offenses is 10 years in prison. The maximum penalty for false report offenses is 20 years.
The Muncie Police Department released a statement from Chief Nathan Sloan and the department’s administrative team:
Three officers from the Muncie Police Department had previously been indicted on various charges from an on-going federal investigation into incidents that occurred in 2018. An additional officer has been indicted as a result of that investigation.
The information that has been made available to the department at this time is limited, but we will continue to cooperate with federal authorities and provide updates as information becomes available and can be released. The officer that was indicted today has been placed on Administrative Leave, effective immediately, until further determinations can be made about their status during the continued 2018 investigation.
Two of the previously indicted officers have been on Administrative Leave-Suspension, without pay, pending the outcome of the litigation from the 2018 investigation. The third previously indicted officer resigned from active duty on the Muncie Police Department and is in retirement transition.
The current Muncie Police Administration continues to focus on community engagement, policy revision, officer accountability and continuing education and training for officers.
These focal points will remain a priority to ensure that the citizens and/or guests of Muncie are receiving the highest quality police service from policing professionals. These commitments will continue, despite challenges that may arise from previous investigations.
Read the full indictment here on Scrib.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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Too bad they don’t go after lawyers that lie in court and judges that let them do it. They are going after minnows in a tank of sharks. Indiana investigates 2 of 100 judge complaints.
Most cops didn’t want any part of the “drug war”. They sweetened the pot (corrupted police) with ” Civil Asset Forfeiture” which produced “Policing for Profit: The Drug Wars Hidden Economic Agenda”.By they I mean Daddy Bush and his blackmailed pervert Rehnquist supreme court of feces (satanic).
Cops in south florida are under Masonic attack…. the corrupt rich and influence peddlers butter up to cops and instill a view of society in them that says poor people dont count. Its satanism.
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