TERRE HAUTE —
A brawl that started in the Vigo County Courthouse on Tuesday spilled out of the building and into the lawn and parking areas outside.
The trouble started inside the courthouse just after 1:30 p.m. during an initial hearing for William Mallory, an Indianapolis man held in the Friday shooting death of a Terre Haute man.
A short time later the courthouse was locked down, as was nearby City Hall. Approximately 20 police vehicles were parked in different places around the government complex, many with lights flashing.
Law enforcement officers from several agencies worked among civilians on the parking lot and outside the courthouse building. Police vehicles closed off the large parking lot west of the Vigo County Jail for about an hour.
A witness who was outside the west doors of the courthouse when the disturbances spilled outside said she heard a woman screaming and then saw the woman pushing and attempting to hit a police officer. Several other people, including law enforcement, became involved, she said.
At another point, police discovered that two women, including a 17-year-old, had buried two knives in mulch on the courthouse lawn. A courthouse employee witnessed the women burying the knives and summoned security, said Vigo County Sheriff’s chief deputy Clark Cottom. The women later were identified and police confiscated the knives. The juvenile was arrested on an outstanding Vigo County warrant. The other woman was questioned and released.
No charges were filed in connection with the knives as they were not taken into the courthouse and police could not determine if they were to be used in an unlawful manner, Cottom said. One was a small folding knife. The other was a kitchen-type knife with a blade approximately 41⁄2 inches long, he said.
“It is our belief that when [the women] realized the courthouse had metal detectors, they decided to hide or discard their weapons,” Cottom said. “We have no information that any knives or weapons got past courthouse security.”
People often bring knives to the courthouse and are turned away by security, Cottom said. In many cases they either surrender their knives to security or return them to their cars, he said. Burying them in the lawn is unusual and not necessarily illegal, he said. The knives were buried some distance away from the courthouse building, he noted.
When the dust finally settled around the courthouse about 2:30 p.m., only two adults were facing criminal charges in connection with the melee, though prosecutors say more charges are possible.
Carolyn Kay Rudy, 21, of Terre Haute, and Angela Lynn Walker, 37, of Indianapolis, are each facing misdemeanor allegations of resisting law enforcement. Rudy also faces an allegation of disorderly conduct, also a misdemeanor. Both were booked and then released on their own recognizance.
At one point during the afternoon, the 17-year-old juvenile, while being placed in a squad car at the corner of Cherry and Harding streets, spit on a television video journalist, Cottom said. As a result, she is facing allegations of battery by bodily waste in addition to the allegations associated with her outstanding warrant, he said.
In the early phases of the incident, law enforcement officers escorted people involved in the brawl, which began in Vigo Superior Court 6, out of the building, Cottom said. They were taken out of the south, west and north doors of the building to keep conflicting parties separated. Cottom estimated about 20 to 25 people were involved. He added, however, there were several innocent bystanders also caught up in the situation who had to be escorted safely from the scene.
Some verbal altercations and threats continued in the parking lot as participants walked to their cars, Cottom said. As a result of those threats, police escorted some participants to Interstate 70 to ensure they were able to leave town without being stopped, he said.
Law enforcement officers from the Terre Haute Police Department, the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State Police, the West Terre Haute Police, the Indiana State University Police and Indiana Conservation Officers were all on the scene. In addition to the large police presence inside the courtroom in anticipation of trouble, 15 officers were coincidentally in the basement of the courthouse for a training session when the trouble started, Cottom noted.
“We had a lot of units in the right place at the right time,” Cottom said. “And we quickly outnumbered the problem and I feel we contained it pretty well.”
In the future, when Mallory has a court appearance, security may be enhanced to an even larger degree than it was today, Cottom said. The women arrested Tuesday were issued orders not to return to the Vigo County Courthouse, he noted.
Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Contraband: Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing holds a knife that was found during the disturbance outside the Vigo County courthouse Tuesday afternoon.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Reinforcements: Law enforcement officers run to the Vigo County Courthouse parking lot Tuesday afternoon. A dispute surrounding a hearing for alleged shooter William Mallory erupted in the courthouse and carried over to the parking lot.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Quiet for now: Several law enforcement officers were present shortly after a disturbance inside the Vigo county courthouse worked its way outside into the parking lot.
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