When Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer announced Tuesday that he had asked Indiana State Police to review an anonymous allegation made against Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker, little information was available.
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News Now Warsaw has since obtained the Incident Report for January 25, the day that Whitaker’s actions are in question.
The report confirms that Whitaker was off duty when he observed what he believed was an impaired driver. It was approximately 6:30 p.m. when Whitaker notes the driver almost hit him head on near Warsaw Fire Station 3 on 200 South.
The narrative portion of the report, written by Whitaker, goes on to detail his call into Central Dispatch to get an on-duty officer to respond.
After that call was made, the driver reportedly pulled into a residence and parked. Whitaker observed the actions and continued to wait for an on-duty officer, he writes in the report.
It was when a 74-year-old man tried to get back into the vehicle that Whitaker says he took action, despite being off duty. Here is an excerpt from the report as written by Whitaker:
“I noticed the vehicle was still running and observed an older male subject…walking toward the driver side of the vehicle. Even with my presence, he attempted to access the driver’s side front door. I immediately grasped him from behind, by his coat on both shoulders, and attempted to maneuver him slightly in front of the driver’s door, near the hood area. Upon doing so, [the man’s] legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. I was able to assist him to the ground, as I was still holding his shoulders. At that time, I identified myself as a Warsaw police officer and asked him to keep his hands on the hood of the car and to stay in that position as on-duty police officer(s) would be on scene shortly.”
After the interaction, Whitaker talked to the man’s wife, who said she was driving the vehicle that nearly hit Whitaker.
On-duty officers then arrived at the scene. The wife said she has difficulty driving in the dark and was advised not to do so in the future.
Both the man and his wife were determined not to be impaired by on-duty officers.
No citations were issued.
