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    12/27/2005 - South Bend - A South Bend Police officer spent part of Christmas Eve in the Saint Joseph County Jail, behind bars.

 Officer Ronald Nowicki Jr., 37, a 12-year veteran of the South Bend Police Department, was arrested late Saturday afternoon after he was allegedly speeding.

An Indiana State Trooper pulled Nowicki over near State Road 2 and Timothy Road.

 Officer Nowicki was also arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

 The South Bend Police Department plans to investigate the arrest, as well as the Indiana State Police and the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office.

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   12/20/2005 - A former Tippecanoe County sheriff's deputy who lied about a well-being check on a little girl who later died from abuse was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail.

 Officer Glen A. Keller, 35, of Lafayette also must serve 12 months on probation after pleading guilty to felony perjury for perpetuating the lie during a deposition in October.

"This perjury goes to the very heart of the community's confidence in police officers," Judge Les Meade of Tippecanoe Superior Court 4 said. "One of the things that we expect from our police officers is that they tell the truth -- always, without fail."

Keller said he spent two days in bed, unable to eat or sleep, after lying under oath during an Oct. 28 deposition in the murder and neglect case involving 4-year-old Aiyana Gauvin. Aiyana died March 16, allegedly at the hands of her stepmother, Michelle Gauvin.

 Gauvin is charged with capital murder in connection with the killing. Aiyana's father, Christian Gauvin, is charged with neglect.

 Nine months before Aiyana's death, Keller was dispatched to the Gauvin home south of Lafayette to check on Aiyana's well-being. Her maternal grandmother reported that Aiyana had been seen in a Lafayette grocery store with scars on her face and hands.

At the Gauvin home on June 5, 2004, Keller spoke at the door with Michelle and Christian but left without ever laying eyes on Aiyana. He reported to dispatchers that the he had seen the girl and saw no injuries.

"I made a bad decision, a poor decision," Keller said in court Tuesday. "I didn't go into the house to check on the child."

Seventeen months later, Keller, a 3 year member of the sheriff's department, repeated the lie during the deposition. But two days later, he confessed to Sheriff Smokey Anderson and resigned.

His lawyer, Wayne Fountain, noted the confession came before Keller had consulted an attorney. The only way the lie could have come to light, Fountain said, was through Keller's confession.

"If he would have kept quiet, nobody would have ever known about this," Fountain said, adding the confession speaks to Keller's character.

But Meade said Keller had many opportunities to correct his lie before it became a crime.

He noted as mitigating factors that Keller had no prior criminal history, was not likely to reoffend, that imprisonment would be a hardship on his sick wife and three children and that Keller was remorseful.

Meade gave Keller until Monday, the day after Christmas, to report to the Tippecanoe County Jail. Sheriff Anderson said Keller likely will be transferred to another county jail.

Six off-duty sheriff's deputies attended the sentencing but declined to comment afterward.

William Robinson, Aiyana's maternal grandfather, also attended the sentencing but declined to make a statement or sentencing recommendation.

"I've been asked by counsel not to comment on the proceedings," he said afterward.

 Anderson said he thought the sentence was fair, and he hopes that Keller's crime does not sully the reputation of the entire department.

"Certainly, it's a black eye, but we have very good people in place that do their jobs without question, without fail, every day of the week," Anderson said. "They're put in difficult situations and they do an excellent job."

 Special prosecutor Robert Guy of White County did not make a sentencing recommendation, but afterward, he said he thought the sentence was fair.

"I think a sentence to a short term of incarceration will be the first step in restoring faith in our system," Guy said. 

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   12/20/2005 - A part time Osceola police officer is suspended without pay, and now faces criminal charges in St. Joseph County. 

 Officer Ronald Lusk, 50, is charged with two counts of sexual misconduct of a minor, as well as one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

 The charges filed with the county prosecutor's office say Lusk had sex with a 15-year-old this past summer.

His bond was set at $3000.

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    12/20/2005 - SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Just a week before his death, Richard Pryor and his wife sent a letter to an Indiana county sheriff expressing outrage about an animal cruelty case. 

They sent the letter after learning that a St. Joseph County police officer, Curt Seufert, was placed on administrative leave last month while state police investigated whether he killed his girlfriend's dog. The Pryors' letter called the reported circumstances shocking.

"We respectfully ask you to not let this be 'swept under the rug,'" read the letter, signed by the groundbreaking comedian and his wife, Jennifer.

Pryor died Saturday of a heart attack. He was 65.

Sheriff Frank Canarecci said a police report indicated Seufert and his girlfriend, Jennifer L. Radican, 27, a corporal with the South Bend Police Department, had argued on Nov. 25. The next day, Radican returned home to find one of her two dogs dead in the basement.

The internal investigation is ongoing, and no decision has yet been made, according to Canarecci. A message left at Seufert's home by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.

Jennifer Pryor confirmed Tuesday to the South Bend Tribune that the couple sent the letter to the sheriff.

"We were so disturbed by that," she said. "Richard and I have always had a strong affinity for animals." 

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    12/20/2005 - Roseland - There is more trouble for the town of Roseland, as another one of its police officers is in trouble with the law.

 The former town Marshall will soon be sentenced for theft after $10,000 was taken from an evidence safe. And, as many already are aware of, the well documented squabbles stemming from the town leadership. Now, a new controversy has surfaced in the small town with big problems.

 It was late Sunday night that Roseland Police Officer Craig Toner and his live-in girlfriend were both arrested at their Elkhart apartment.

Both face charges of domestic violence.

 Police responded to the apartment on Elkhart's west side on a call of a domestic disturbance.

 Inside, they found 46-year-old Craig Toner and his live-in girlfriend 29-year-old Paula Fife.

Both were injured in an apparent fight between each other.

"When we got there, the officers spoke with a male and a female who were there, boyfriend-girlfriend, and pretty much determined that both had been involved in domestic battery. (They had) very minor injuries, some pushing, grabbing, maybe a scratch or two," says Elkhart County Captain Tom Love.

Both were arrested and charged with domestic battery and will appear in Elkhart City Court on Friday.

Roseland Police officials declined to comment on the matter, only to say that Officer Toner was not scheduled to work Monday.

The police report indicated Fife suffered a small bruise on her arm, while Toner ended-up with a scratch or bruise.

"There was a verbal argument that escalated into a little bit of a physical argument," says Love. "There was some pushing and shoving and a little bit of shaking."

In the report, Elkhart Police say the couple had been drinking alcohol at a local restaurant before the fight.

Toner was a 19-year veteran of the Mishawaka Police Department until last year when he lost his job because of a drunk driving conviction two years earlier.

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 12/20/2005 - St. Joseph County - A cop for 35 years, Roseland Town Marshal Mike Swanson admitted he stole thousands of dollars from the town safe.

 However, at his sentencing Tuesday, Swanson ended-up with no jail time and, more importantly, no felony on his record.

His attorney called him a "good person who made a mistake.” Swanson will not serve any jail time for stealing $10,000 worth of drug money from a town safe.

Swanson pled guilty to the theft and a second charge of obstructing justice, which are both felonies.

However, in an emotional explanation, the judge reduced both of felony charges to misdemeanors and Swanson's two-year jail sentence was suspended.  The judge will require the former cop to perform 800 hours of community service and be on probation for up to two years.

"He's lost not only his own personal belief of integrity but also I’m sure a lot of fellow officers that he worked with.  He has always applied himself to the highest standards of integrity, and he knows he made a mistake.  And I think he disappointed himself more than anyone else," said Bill Stanley, Swanson’s attorney.

Swanson served as a South Bend Police Detective, then as Commander of the County Special Crimes Unit, then Roseland Town Marshal.  A tenure not lost on Judge Jerome Frese who said it was a "very difficult thing to have a case involving a person with more than 35-years of law enforcement experience.”  Also adding that the reduced sentence was "...not special treatment to a member of the ‘in’ group."

While he won't serve any jail time, he will have to perform a lot of community service.

"In my 33-years of practice I have never had a client imposed with the responsibility of committing or performing 800-hours of community service.  But, I think as Judge Frese indicated, he was trying to get a message across as well," said Stanley.

 Prosecutor Mike Dvorak says he respects the judge's decision to drop the felonies to misdemeanors.  As for Swanson's position as Roseland Town Marshal, he's on un-paid administrative leave.

Because felony charges were dropped, Swanson can continue to be a police officer.

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   12/19/2005 - A former Elkhart County Police officer spent the day in court, but this time it is for a crime of which he is accused.

 According to our recording partners at The Truth, 50-year-old Larry Towns is accused of stealing $9,000, a gun and methamphetamine in October of 2002.  Towns is also accused of taking unauthorized control of $20,000 between the end of October and the end of December of that same year.

 The former cop faces up to three years in prison for each felony he's charged with, as well as up to a year for each misdemeanor.

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  Officer Mark A. Poynter, 50, had been scheduled to appear before the Hamilton County Merit Board this evening to face internal charges brought by Sheriff Doug Carter following Poynter's arrest in September. The 19-year veteran was charged Sept. 9 with battery resulting in bodily injury, intimidation and obstruction of justice.

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   11/03/2005 - LAFAYETTE - A Tippecanoe County sheriff's deputy has resigned after admitting he lied about examining a 4-year-old girl reported to be a victim of child abuse. The child died months later from what authorities say was a subsequent attack.

  Officer Glen A. Keller, a 3½-year veteran of the sheriff's department, resigned Monday after confessing to Sheriff Smokey Anderson that he went to the Lafayette home of Aiyana Gauvin on June 5, 2004, but never saw the child.

 "Child is OK and no physical/visible marks on her," Keller reported to radio dispatchers after being called to the home on a report of abuse, according to police documents.

  Officer Keller also reported that he had spoken to the girl's parents and "they explained that she self-abuses herself" by banging on the walls at home until she bleeds and by scratching her face.

 The girl's stepmother, Michelle Gauvin, 33, is charged with murder in the March 16 beating death of the girl. County Prosecutor Jerry Bean announced Tuesday he would seek the death penalty against the woman. The girl's father, Christian Gauvin, 34, is charged with felony neglect.

Anderson said during a news conference Tuesday that Keller contacted him Sunday night and admitted fabricating his report.

"He could give no reason why he did this. He just couldn't live with himself any further," Anderson said. "I'm devastated that we sent a deputy there and he would not check on that serious allegation and would lie and not come forward for a year and a half."

 Keller could not be located for comment on Wednesday as no home telephone number is listed in his name in the Lafayette area.

 Officer Keller was dispatched to the Gauvins' home on a report made by the child's maternal grandmother, Patty Robinson. An acquaintance had told Robinson that she had seen Aiyana at a store with scars on her face and hands.

Keller spoke with the parents outside their home but did not see the child.

 Anderson said he suspected Keller came forward after he gave a sworn deposition to the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office Friday saying that Aiyana appeared in good health that evening.

 "Whether he had seen the child, would it have made a difference? That's a question we will never know the answer to," Anderson said. "He absolutely let us down and her (Aiyana) down and the community down. He did not check on her well-being, and there's no excuse for that.

 State police Sgt. Kim Riley said the agency was investigating Keller's actions and would forward its results to prosecutors.

 Anderson said he also planned to have his department review cases in which Keller was the primary officer.

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  10/28/2005 -  GARY — Truck driver David Cobb and the police officer who arrested him told different versions of Cobb’s arrest in court Thursday.

 Cobb, 44, was on trial for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test after Cpl. Darrian Donald found him driving with an open can of beer in his lap.

 After listening to testimony, Gary City Court Judge Pro Tem Itsia Rivera found Cobb guilty of drunken driving but acquitted him on the refusal.

 She sentenced him to six months in jail. He has been incarcerated since August on an unrelated felony theft.

 At the trial, Donald testified he was sent to check reports of an intoxicated driver and found a car that matched the description provided. He said Cobb failed one of three field sobriety tests and agreed to take the Breathalyzer test.

 Once at the police station, “he was persistent on making a phone call,” and refused to answer questions or cooperate with police, Donald said.

 But Cobb said his arrest on July 21 was different than on previous occasions, claiming no one spoke to him after he was brought to the station. He testified he would have taken the test, but was placed in a cell instead.

 His attorney, Kelly Gibson White, argued there was no evidence her client was drunk or that he made any refusal. She said she would appeal the judge’s decision.

***** A judge once again takes the side of a police officer. Police officers lie!

***** I'm curious to know what law was broken, if the defendant actually did refuse to take a Breathalyzer test? It's in the constitution folks look it up, it says you don't have to incriminate yourself by taking a Breathalyzer and you have the right to refuse to take any type of sobriety test.

*****  What law was being broken at the police station, when the defendant "refused" to answer questions the police asked??? There was no law broken if he refused to answer questions. If you end up in jail, keep your mouth closed except when asking for an attorney.

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   10/28/2005 -  Charles Hill, 34, whose 11-year-old daughter, Willa Hill, died Tuesday, is charged with first-degree murder in the girl's death.

He is also charged with aggravated battery to his 13-year-old son.

 The Calumet City Police Department announced the charges Thursday. Hill is a former Harvey police deputy and currently unemployed, Calumet City police Sgt. Kevin Glaser said. Hill is scheduled to appear in Cook County 6th District Court today for a bond hearing.

Hill's wife, the girl's stepmother, was taken into custody for questioning but was released without charges.

 Eight children living with Hill and his wife were taken into protective custody the day of Willa's death. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had previous notification of child abuse and neglect at the Hill residence, according to Calumet City police.

 Police received a call from Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday with a report that Hill and his wife arrived at the hospital with Willa, who was already dead.

 An autopsy Wednesday showed Hill died of blunt force trauma caused by abuse. The Cook County medical examiner's office called the death a homicide as the result of child abuse.

The girl lived with nine siblings who were either blood relatives or stepsiblings. The children ranged in age from 8 to 14, police said.

Investigators said Willa was not the only child in the household who may have suffered abuse.

On Oct. 19, family services launched an investigation regarding an allegation of abuse of Willa's 13-year-old brother, who also lives in the Paxton Avenue home.

Officials arrived at the home Tuesday to investigate that allegation about the same time police began their investigation of Willa's death.

 Police said the boy ran away from home the night before his sister died. He showed up at a nearby house, where the resident noticed injuries and contacted authorities. The boy was taken to St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Hammond for treatment.

A family services spokesman said an abuse and neglect investigation into the household is currently under way.

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   10/27/2005 - ALEXANDRIA — Authorities charged a city police officer with promoting prostitution, accusing him of soliciting a woman in a cell phone text message.

 Officer Richard A. Santos, 54, was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of promoting prostitution and one count of official misconduct, all felonies. He was released from the Madison County jail after posting bond Tuesday.

 In June, a uniformed Santos approached an 18-year-old and offered her money to stay the night with him at a motel in Anderson, a probable cause affidavit said. The young woman declined.

 In August, Santos solicited oral sex from the same woman in a text message from his cellular phone, the affidavit said.

 Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said investigators used cell phone records to trace the messages.

“This is a ridiculous thing to do,” Cummings said. “It is absurd to send a text message to a telephone and that call could be traced back to you.”

Santos is also accused of following the woman around the city 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis while on duty, the affidavit said. He knew the teen through a relationship with her mother, Cummings said.

On Sept. 17, Police Chief Jack Malston placed Santos, a 25-year veteran, on paid administrative leave, which required him to turn in his badge and weapon.

“It’s not going to be tolerated,” Malston said. “When a police officer goes from someone who protects people to someone who they have to be protected from, there’s no tolerance.”

A special safety board meeting on Monday will determine whether Santos is fired.