Court documents give insight into domestic battery arrest of Noblesville fire captain
News 8 has chosen not to name the woman involved in the domestic battery incident.
LAPEL, Ind. (WISH) — A captain in the Noblesville Fire Department has been placed on administrative leave after he was arrested for domestic battery early Saturday.
The Noblesville mayor’s office confirmed to News 8 Sunday that Brett Etherington, 55, had been arrested by the Lapel Police Department on a charge of domestic violence.
He was off-duty at the time of his arrest. The Noblesville Fire Department said Monday Etherington was placed on administrative leave until further notice.
According to court documents from the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office, a Lapel police officer was dispatched for a welfare check in the area of 7th and Clara streets for a welfare check.
An Uber driver called 911 and reported he dropped off a man at a home and believed he saw the man assaulting a female inside.
The officer found the home in the 800 block of Clara Street, and couldn’t contact anyone inside.
Court documents say that when the officer peered in through the windows, it looked like the house had been destroyed, with the TV pulled off the wall and glass all over the floor.
Eventually, the officer found the female around the backside of the house.
She told police that she and Etherington went to a concert earlier that night and then left to go to a local bar. When returning to the house, the two got into an argument, and Etherington left to go to the fire station.
The woman says after Etherington left, she couldn’t find her phone and believed Etherington took it. Police say she followed Etherington to the fire station to confront him. She says Etherington denied having the phone and told her to leave. The woman took the keys to Etherington’s truck before leaving the station because “he was drunk and she didn’t want him driving.”
That was when Etherington Ubered back to the house to retrieve his keys and a physical altercation broke out. As a result, the woman received two long scratches on the left side of her back, police say.
After the fight, court documents say Etherington left in the woman’s car to go back to the fire station, leaving her car there.
Officers went to the fire station to look for Etherington and couldn’t find him. After “much persuasion” over a phone conversation, police met with Etherington for an interview.
He confirmed to police that he and the woman fought after she took his keys, but said she was responsible for the destroyed house. “(She) then went crazy like she always does and destroyed the house,” court documents say.
When officers asked how the woman would have gotten the scratches on her back, and Etherington said he never once touched her.
Police say they could smell alcohol on Etherington’s breath, and asked if he drank anything that night as he was driving. Etherington said he only had one drink around 10:30 p.m.
A breathalyzer test reported Etherington’s blood-alcohol level at 0.08.
Online jail records show Etherington was booked into the Madison County jail around 4:30 a.m. Saturday. He was still listed as an inmate on Tuesday morning.
Etherington played basketball for Butler University from 1987-91, and holds the record for most steals in a single game during the 1990-91 season.
Help is available for victims of domestic violence. Below is a list of suggested resources on the Domestic Violence Network website:
- Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence: 24-hour hotline available at 800-332-7385
- Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking
- The Julian Center
- Indiana Child Abuse Hotline: 800-800-5556
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788
- National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673
