Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew A. Myers has announced staff promotions for the department.
- Sgt. T. A. Smith has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant in BCSO’s Road Division. Smith began his career in law enforcement in 1981. He is a graduate of the National FBI Academy.
- Deputy Brent Worman has been promoted to the rank of sergeant in BCSO’s Road Division. Worman began his career with the sheriff’s department in 2010 as a correction’s officer. He holds an associate’s degree in criminal justice.
- Deputy Andrew Whipker has been promoted to the rank of sergeant in BCSO’s Road Division. Whipker began his career with the sheriff’s department as a merit deputy in 2015. He holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice.
The new appointments follow Myers announcement that three deputies, Lt. Gary Knoef, Sgt. Jason Lancaster and Sgt. Jason Williams are suspended for 15 days without pay and were demoted in the failure to detain Derek Henderson, 38, 1803 Home Ave., on Jan. 3 after an emergency detention order was issued by Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
Henderson was shot to death in the early morning hours of Jan. 4 after confronting a homeowner with a bat at the homeowner’s residence at 2025 Home Ave.
An internal investigation revealed that visual and verbal contact was made with Henderson at Henderson’s home on Jan. 3, but he refused to leave the home or allow deputies to enter. The deputies, who were supervised by Knoef, Lancaster and Williams, eventually left the scene without detaining Henderson and made no further attempt to serve the emergency detention order, according to the sheriff’s department.
For more on this this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
