Staff Reports
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a local man implicated in a domestic violence incident Friday morning, which also included a lockdown of Flat Rock-Hawcreek schools for several hours.
Deputies found Craig Whittington, 46, Hope, in the attic of his father’s barn at about 9 a.m. Friday, where he surrendered without incident, deputies said.
Whittington was taken to be checked out at Columbus Regional Hospital and then was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail on preliminary charges of criminal confinement, intimidation with a deadly weapon and strangulation, Sheriff Matt Myers said.
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The incident began early Friday morning in the 15000 block of East County Road 500N, beginning a several-hour search for Whittington in wooded areas around Hope. Searchers did not know whether Whittington had a weapon and during a search, did find a weapon at the home of his father.
Several additional deputies were sent to the Flat Rock-Hawcreek schools to assist a school resource officer there as the lockdown continued. Students were never in any danger from this incident, Myers said.
A police canine was used to attempt to track Whittington, and deputies had asked for drone support from the Columbus Fire Department.
An Everbridge alert was been set out about Whittington, followed by an alert that he had been located.
Whittington was being held in the Bartholomew County Jail without bond on a 72-hour-hold.
