John Velten
A suspended Columbus police officer has agreed to resign and has accepted the terms of a plea bargain agreement, pleading guilty to Class A misdemeanor battery in a 2020 case involving a handcuffed suspect being hit.
John D. Velten, 38, who has been suspended without pay from the police department while the criminal case was pending, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor Wednesday afternoon in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
He was sentenced to one year in jail, which was suspended, and ordered to serve 40 hours of community service and pay $185 in court costs. The plea bargain agreement called for a felony official misconduct charge to be dismissed.
Velten was accused of striking a handcuffed suspect with his fist outside a home on Indiana Avenue on June 16, 2020, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by an Indiana State Police investigator.
The alleged battery, which investigators said caused moderate injuries to John Robert Keith DeMerit, now age 41, took place after Velten witnessed the suspect hitting his head against the interior of a patrol car, the affidavit stated.
Velten was originally charged with two Level 6 felonies — official misconduct by a public servant and battery. If convicted of both criminal charges, he could have received one to five years behind bars, as well as been ordered to pay up to $20,000 in fines
In the plea agreement, Special Prosecutor Dave Thomas of Vigo County agreed to drop the misconduct charge, and allow Velten to plead guilty to the count of battery as a Class A misdemeanor.
After accepting the agreement, Special Judge Timothy Day of Decatur County sentenced Velten to a suspended one-year sentence in the Bartholomew County Jail, ordering him to serve that time under supervised probation.
Velten, a 14-year veteran CPD officer when arrested, has agreed to resign from the Columbus Police Department after conversations with Police Chief Mike Richardson, defense attorney John Kautzman told the judge.
“I would say my client has sufficiently been punished,” Kautzman said.
Velten was also ordered to have no further contact with DeMerit.
After Day accepted the sentence, the special prosecutor asked permission to address the court. Thomas explained the case was difficult for him to prosecute because DeMerit had a criminal history, while Velten has maintained a clean record. The prosecutor also noted that DeMerit was committing crimes while the suspended police officer, along with other officers, were trying to stop the crimes.
“DeMerit provoked the incident,” Thomas said.
The prosecutor added that while Velten has been fully cooperative since his arrest, while DeMerit is in legal trouble again. The 41-year-old McKinley Avenue resident was arrested in Monroe County last July and charged with strangulation and intimidation, both Level 6 felonies. In addition, DeMerit is also charged with misdemeanor battery, according to court records.
Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton and Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash recused themselves from the case because they had worked extensively with Velten in the past.
