A Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department corrections officer has been arrested by Indiana State Police on felony criminal charges relating to discharging a firearm into a Bartholomew County residence where two children were sleeping.
Indiana State Police detectives arrested sheriff’s department corrections officer Nicholas L. Wright, 19, of 3182 Alan Drive, on warrants Wednesday on felony charges of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and obstruction of justice, according to Stephen Wheeles, Indiana State Police spokesman.
The investigation by Indiana State Police Detective Andrew Mitchell began on Jan. 18 when a case was referred to the Indiana State Police by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department due to the suspect in the case being a corrections officer with the sheriff’s department, Wheeles said.
During the investigation, Mitchell determined that sometime during the overnight hours of Jan. 11, Wright is accused of firing a handgun from inside of his residence on Alan Drive, Wheeles said. The round went through the window of his residence and entered a neighbor’s mobile home, entering a bedroom where two children were sleeping before being lodged in a children’s toy, Wheeles said. The children were not injured, according to investigators.
The investigation determined that Wright altered the scene to cover up the incident and also lied to investigators about the incident, Wheeles said.
As a result of the investigation, detectives arrested Wright on charges of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony, and obstruction of justice, a Level 6 Felony.
Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said Wright was terminated as a corrections officer after state police informed him that there were inconsistencies in Wright’s statements to investigators.
“He was an ‘at will’ employee and I hold our employees to a high standard,” Myers said in a phone interview on Saturday. “I am not going to tolerate inconsistencies within our department if a person is being investigated.”
The shooting incident was brought to the attention of the sheriff’s department when an unidentified individual called to report a bullet hole found in their mobile home in the Alan Drive area, Myers said. Detective Will Kinman initially investigated the case and after taking photographs and interviewing witnesses, learned that Wright lived nearby, causing him to turn the case over to the Indiana State Police, Myers said.
Any investigation that could potentially involve a sheriff’s department employee is turned over to the state police to avoid a conflict of interest.
Myers said Wright should have reported the shooting incident immediately when it occurred, and according to the state police, was not truthful with investigators, which resulted in the termination.
Wright had been a corrections officer at the jail for less than a year, Myers said. Requirements for the job include being at least age 18, he said.
Corrections officers for the department are not issued guns by the sheriff’s department, so the weapon involved was not a county-issued gun, Myers said. The only corrections officers who have assigned weapons are those who do transport duty or Bartholomew County Courthouse security.
There is a great deal of turnover in the corrections officers positions, the sheriff said, describing the job as a demanding one. Many of the individuals in the positions are in their first jobs, and their first jobs in law enforcement.
The job involves working with inmates to maintain law and order in the jail, taking care of inmate needs and making sure rules are followed, Myers said.
Wright was initially incarcerated at the Bartholomew County Jail pending his initial appearance in the Bartholomew Circuit Court.
Myers said Wright was initially being held in a segregated part of the jail to prevent contact with inmates. Wright was later released from jail after posting $22,000 bond, jail officials said.
