Staff report
TERRE HAUTE — A veteran Terre Haute Police officer has been disciplined for accidentally destroying evidence in a pending court case.
Lt. Bill Bergherm has not yet served the discipline, acting police chief Mark Eldred told the Tribune-Star on Friday. Eldred declined to state what kind of discipline Bergherm faced.
“Some evidence was destroyed, and it wasn’t intentional, that was in violation of department directives and policies,” Eldred said. “The officer was disciplined.”
Bergherm is in charge of the records division at THPD, which includes the evidence room. He is a 30-year veteran of the department.
Eldred said the criminal case for which the evidence was gathered is still open, and he declined to comment on how the loss of the evidence could affect the case. Eldred also stated he was unsure when the evidence was erroneously destroyed.
