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August 7, 2012

Appeal prompts 4 hours of testimony

THPD merit board hears case stemming from incident at eatery

Lisa Trigg The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Hindsight has prompted a Terre Haute police officer to rethink a decision he made in February, but officer Daniel Armentrout said on Monday that he doesn’t think he deserved a one-day suspension because of what he did not do.

A lengthy meeting of the Terre Haute Police Department merit board heard testimony from numerous witnesses about events on Feb. 19, when Armentrout and two other THPD officers were among a group of people at Chava’s restaurant in the 600 block of Wabash Avenue.

A customer in the restaurant had reportedly refused to pay his bill and became unruly, so the owner of the business asked for assistance from some of his customers. Off-duty officers Armentrout, Travis Chesshir and Brian Bourbeau responded to assist in ejecting the customer from the restaurant. The three men then finished their meal and left the restaurant with their friends.

They did not report the incident to an on-duty supervisor.

It was that failure to report their actions that earned all three officers a one-day suspension, even though a police department review of the incident inside the restaurant was determined to be justified.

Armentrout said that if he had to do it all over again, he would have reported the incident.

“It was over and done within less than 60 seconds,” the 14-year-veteran officer told the merit board.

He admitted that even though Chesshir suggested they report the incident, Armentrout said he did not think it merited contacting a supervising officer.

Since then, however, public scrutiny of the incident has caused criticism and embarrassment that Armentrout said turned the brief incident into an ordeal.

Capt. Carl Green stated that he recommended some type of disciplinary action be taken because the three officers should have filed a report on their involvement. Green said he did not recommend what type of discipline be imposed. The discipline could have been a verbal reprimand or counseling.

Police were called to the 600 block of Wabash Avenue in the early morning hours shortly after the incident occurred. But they were called to another business, The Verve, because the same two individuals who encountered police at Chava’s had allegedly gotten into a fight at the nightclub, and one of those people was reportedly lying on the sidewalk unconscious.

Lt. Adam Loudermilk reported that when he arrived at the scene, the injured individual had gotten up and returned inside the nightclub, where police located and questioned him.

Loudermilk said the three off-duty officers from the Chava’s incident were not at the scene, but later returned and were directed to file reports about the incident. They did that, and all of the police reports from the two incidents were forwarded to the Vigo County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Rob Roberts told the merit board that he reviewed the paperwork, and determined that criminal charges should be filed against the two men involved in the fight. However, he determined the police officers acted appropriately based on the report that included surveillance of the incident inside Chava’s.

Armentrout’s attorney Bill Groth repeatedly stated that none of the officers involved violated any department rule that stated they should file a report, because no such rule exists in writing.

While all three officers received a one-day suspension, only Armentrout and Chesshir appealed the decision. Prior to Monday’s hearing, Chesshir dropped his appeal request.

Armentrout stated that because of the suspension, he was taken off the list of candidates for promotion to sergeant, and he lost his defensive instructor status with the department because a supervising officer alleged that Armentrout used force to choke the customer at Chava’s. The video, however, showed that he did not choke the man.

THPD attorney Chou-il Lee asserted, however, that when the officers intervened in the incident, even though they were off-duty, they had an obligation to file a report because of the physical nature of the altercation.

The merit board took the information under advisement at the conclusion of almost four hours of testimony. A determination on the one-day suspension will be made at a future merit board meeting. The date and time of that meeting is to be announced.

Reporter Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @TribStarLisa.

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