Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew A. Myers has suspended three deputies following an internal investigation into the failure to properly serve an emergency detention order on an individual who was later shot to death in a Home Avenue residence.
Lt. Gary Knoef, Sgt. Jason Lancaster and Sgt. Jason Williams have all been suspended for 15 days without pay for their roles in the failure to detain Derek Henderson, 38, 1803 Home Ave. on Jan. 3 after an emergency detention order was issued.
Henderson was shot to death at a home at 2025 Home Ave. shortly before 1 a.m. Jan. 4 after the homeowner there alleged Henderson confronted him inside the home with a baseball bat.
Myers announced the three deputies will also be demoted from their current rank. Deputy Gary Knoef will return to his position as a merit sergeant. Deputies Lancaster and Williams will return to their positions as merit patrolmen.
The emergency detention order directed “any police officer” to detain Henderson for emergency treatment as necessary for his own health and safety, as well as the health and safety of others, according to the sheriff department.
An internal investigation revealed that visual and verbal contact was made with Henderson in Henderson’s home, but Henderson refused to leave his home or allow the deputies entrance. The deputies eventually left the scene without detaining Henderson and made no further attempt to serve the emergency detention order, according to the investigation.
While deputies are trained to avoid escalating matters involving a mental health order, they had other options at their disposal, Myers said.
Myers said the deputies should not have left the scene until Mr. Henderson was detained as directed by the emergency detention order.
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
