Chase Winkle, Civil Rights and Obstruction, Indiana 2018

A former Muncie, Indiana, police officer has pleaded guilty to multiple civil rights and obstruction charges for assaulting arrestees and writing false reports.

Chase Winkle, the son of the former Chief of Police, is accused of using excessive force against multiple individuals and falsifying police reports to cover up the incidents.

On August 9, 2018, Winkle and another officer arrested a civilian, L.G., who was subsequently subjected to severe bodily injury, including multiple facial fractures that required surgery. Winkle used his knee to drop his full bodyweight down onto L.G.'s neck and head area, and later deployed taser prongs into L.G.'s back and activated the taser.

Following the incident, Winkle wrote a false report about what happened.

Winkle also pleaded guilty to assaulting two then-juveniles, N.B. and R.F., during a foot chase in June 2018. He kicked N.B. in the head and delivered two closed fist strikes to the back or side of N.B.'s head, and two open hand strikes to N.B.'s face. Winkle then slapped R.F. in the face.

Additionally, Winkle pleaded guilty to kicking I.P. in the abdomen/hip area, causing him to fall backwards into a chain link fence behind him, during a complaint call in March 2018.

Defendant: Chase Winkle

Criminal Charges: 5 federal civil rights offenses for assaulting arrestees and 6 obstruction offenses for writing false reports

City and State: Muncie, Indiana

Exact Date: August 9, 2018 (incident date), March 27, 2018 (incident date), and June 5, 2018 (incident date)

Sentence or Outcome: Pleaded guilty to 11 civil rights and obstruction charges

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-muncie-indiana-police-officer-pleads-guilty-eleven-civil-rights-and-obstruction