Officer Suspended Again - Anderson

[Palehorse]

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/breakingnews/local_story_152182337.html

APD suspends officer 2nd time


By Stephen Dick, Herald Bulletin Associate Editor

ANDERSON — Anderson Police Department Officer Lincoln Brooks has been suspended from the police force for the second time in seven months.

The most recent suspension springs from an alleged battery said to have taken place May 16, according to an e-mail from APD Detective Mitch Carroll. Brooks, 43, is on administrative leave with pay.

"Additional details are being withheld pending the outcome of the investigation," Carroll wrote.

Messages were left by The Herald Bulletin with Police Chief Darron Sparks and Mayor Kris Ockomon but were not returned.

This is the third time that Brooks has been investigated by the Police Department. An internal investigation cleared the officer of any wrongdoing in the April 2007 shooting death of Cheyenne Miller. Brooks shot Miller after Miller pulled a knife resembling a gun in the 400 block of West 34th Street.

In April 2008, APD began an investigation of whether Brooks went to Mark Kumkoski's residence in the 1200 block of Home Avenue and tried to instigate a fight. Police reports at the time, according to a previous Herald Bulletin article, said Brooks was intoxicated when he went to Kumkoski's house. Kumkoski told The Herald Bulletin that Brooks was dating his ex-wife.

Brooks was put on administrative leave with pay.

On Sept. 19, Brooks pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of public intoxication, disorderly conduct and provocation and given a 180-day suspended jail sentence.

He was later suspended by APD from Oct. 6 to Nov. 14.

What is up with this knucklehead? The shooting he was involved with was just a couple of doors down from where I lived at the time, and I was in the yard at the time of the shooting trying to get my dog inside. I questioned the official story back then even though he was cleared. . . I still wonder about it sometimes. Yes, the guy that got shot was a crook, but what I heard that night and saw, doesn't fit the official report very well. . . None the less I wrote it off as human error on my part.

Then he shows up drunk at the home of the X of a girl he's boinking, for which he was suspended, and now this. . .

Somebody got it in for him or is he just a moron? ? ?

[pariann]

I'll say what I said elsewhere,  looks to be a yearly event now, just like clockwork.  He needs to schedule time off in April/May.

[Palehorse]

I'll say what I said elsewhere,  looks to be a yearly event now, just like clockwork.  He needs to schedule time off in April/May.

I would tend to agree, there is a pattern here. In fact it could be looked at a couple of ways.

Either the guy is, as you say, scamming for extra time off the job each year, or perhaps he has a substance abuse or anger management challenge???

In any case, if this latest allegation proves to be justified then someone holding the reins needs to take care of the problem before it becomes a severe liability to the city of Anderson.

If he's a thug then he has no business carrying a firearm and a badge. If he's the victim of back channel efforts of those he has held accountable to the laws of the land, then they need to be ferreted out and made to pay the ascribed punishment.

Given his previous "conviction", when combined with the personal doubt I hold surrounding the shooting, I tend to lean toward the old saying, "where there's smoke there's fire" and strongly suspect he is a thug wearing a badge. . . If he's not then they darned well better set about proving it!

[Palehorse]

Actually I just thought about something. . . If this guy ends up being formally charged with battery and goes to trial. . . My 2 years is up and I really hope they do not call me for the prospective jury pool! I'd hate to have to repeat everything I just said here in open court and in front of a judge! 

[pariann]

But you will....won't you?

[Palehorse]

But you will....won't you?

You're da*#ed skippy! 

[Palehorse]

http://www.heraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_153234405.html

Protective order filed against officer
Larry Neff, 59, reports incidents of violence by APD's Lincoln Brooks

By Justin Schneider

ANDERSON — A protective order issued against Anderson Police Department Officer Lincoln Brooks appears to be related to Brooks' latest suspension from duty.

Larry Neff's petition for a protective order against Brooks was granted Monday in Madison Superior Court 1. In it, Neff claims Brooks attempted, threatened and committed physical harm against him and placed him in fear of harm. Neff claims that Brooks' actions constitute stalking.

On Monday, The Herald Bulletin learned Brooks had been suspended by the police department for the second time in seven months. APD Detective Mitch Carroll, public information officer, said Brooks has been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an internal investigation of an alleged battery on May 16. In his petition, Neff said the incident actually took place on May 23. Neff also identified an earlier incident involving Brooks.

The May 23 incident took place at Neff's home in the 200 block of South Scatterfield Road. Neff claims Brooks "broke in my front door, beat up my daughter, grabed (sic) me around the neck and choked me."

The first incident took place July 14, 2008, also at Neff's home, when Brooks allegedly "threatened me on the phone, came to my house, screamed and cussed myself and my daughter," according to Neff.

The protective order issued Monday prohibits Brooks from committing or threatening acts of violence, stalking or sex offenses against Neff or his family. It requires Brooks to refrain from harassing, annoying, telephoning, contacting or indirectly communicating with Neff.

The protective order requires Brooks to avoid Neff's workplace or school, and to avoid D's Alteration Shop at the corner of Eighth and Jackson streets.

The current investigation of Brooks' actions marks the third time in a little over two years that he's been the subject of an internal APD probe. While on duty in April 2007, Brooks shot Cheyenne Miller to death in an Anderson garage after Miller pulled a knife resembling a gun. APD officers investigated and found that Brooks acted in accordance with department policy.

Then, in April 2008, Brooks was arrested at the Anderson home of Mark Kumkoski, where he tried to goad Kumkoski into a fight. Brooks was dating Kumkoski's ex-wife, who is Neff's daughter, at the time. Brooks was put on administrative leave with pay.

On Sept. 19, Brooks pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of public intoxication, disorderly conduct and provocation in connection with the Kumkoski incident. Brooks was given a 180-day suspended jail sentence. He was later suspended by the police department from Oct. 6 to Nov. 14.

No charges have been filed by the Madison County prosecutor's office against Brooks related to the latest allegations.

The Herald Bulletin made several attempts to call Brooks for comment, but no one answered his phone.

Neff declined to speak to The Herald Bulletin about Brooks, saying he did not want to interfere in the APD investigation.

This just keeps getting better and better. . .

[Palehorse]

ANDERSON — Madison County Prosecutor Thomas Broderick Jr. filed criminal charges Wednesday against suspended Anderson City Police Officer Lincoln Brooks. According to Broderick, charges were filed after review of an APD internal investigation that was turned over to him last week.

Broderick filed six charges against Brooks, including two felony charges. The charges filed were for allegations of residential entry and strangulation, both Class D felonies; two separate charges of battery as Class A misdemeanors; and charges for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, both Class B misdemeanors.
http://www.heraldbulletin.com/breakingnews/local_story_176094515.html

Wonder if these charges will stick this time? 

[pariann]

Hard to tell.  Anderson doesn't seem to be embarrassed much by the behavior of those who have some kind of authority, whether it's political individuals or law enforcement.

[Palehorse]

Hard to tell.  Anderson doesn't seem to be embarrassed much by the behavior of those who have some kind of authority, whether it's political individuals or law enforcement.

They seem to have an "it's all good" philosophy. . . until someone gets caught at whatever it is they are doing. . . 

[Palehorse]

ANDERSON — City police officer Lincoln Brooks surrendered Thursday on six charges related to a May 23 altercation in which he is accused of illegally entering a residence and assaulting his girlfriend and girlfriend's father.

Brooks, 43, 5125 Linden Lane, turned himself in at the Madison County jail at about 10:50 a.m. Thursday. He was booked on felony charges of residential entry and strangulation, two misdemeanor counts of battery, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.

Brooks was processed and freed on $5,000 bond.

http://www.heraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_176125348.html

[Anne]

I know Linc and I won't defend him on the last charges, but the shooting was justified and he was cleared of any wrong doing or mistakes in that incident.

Pale: If you are called for jury duty and tell the truth about having any knowledge of Linc during jury selection you don't have a chance in hades of being on that jury. Also anything about the police action should not ever be admitted into the trail of the things he is charged with now, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Palehorse]

. . .
Pale: If you are called for jury duty and tell the truth about having any knowledge of Linc during jury selection you don't have a chance in hades of being on that jury. Also anything about the police action should not ever be admitted into the trail of the things he is charged with now, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I know all of that. . .

[Palehorse]

A little bird tells me that Brooks has resigned his position with APD effective immediately. . .

Please note I have not been able to confirm this though. . .

[Palehorse]

ANDERSON, Ind. — Former Anderson police officer Lincoln Brooks pleaded guilty to criminal intimidation and violating terms of his probation Monday and was sentenced to an additional year of probation.

The trial was originally scheduled for June 13 but was postponed four times over the course of four months.

Judge Rudolph Pyle of Madison Circuit Court 1 accepted Brooks' plea to a single Class A misdemeanor charge of intimidation.

The charge was linked to an incident on May 28 in which Brooks left about 12 harassing voice mails threatening bodily harm to Richard Armstrong. According to Brooks' attorney Bryan Williams, Brooks made the calls after Armstrong initially contacted Brooks' father.

Special prosecutor Andre Miksha detailed the voice mails, reading from a transcript Brooks' words "I'm going to hurt you bad" among other threatening phrases.

A one-year sentence was suspended. As a condition of his probation, Brooks must successfully complete the Madison County mental health program.

Brooks, 45, was charged on five offenses in June 2009 after an incident in which he was reported to have illegally entered a residence and assaulted his girlfriend and her father.

Brooks had been working for the Anderson Police Department for 11 years when that incident occurred.

He entered a plea arrangement in April 2010, pleading guilty on three misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Brooks claimed that post-traumatic stress disorder from a 2006 incident in which he shot a man, as well as difficulties in his personal life, contributed to his mental state at the time of the assault. 

http://heraldbulletin.com/local/x780409557/Former-police-officer-pleads-guilty-to-intimidation

The court would have sentenced any one of us charged and convicted of such acts, to a nice stretch in the pokey. . .