New charges filed against Muncie police officers in excessive force case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Three Muncie police officers and a sergeant have been charged in a 17-count superseding indictment. The charges against the officers include excessive use of force and false reporting.
The indictment replaced the March 2020 indictment against three officers.
Muncie Police Department officers Joseph Chase Winkle, 34, Jeremy Gibson, 30, and Corey Posey, 28, as well as Sgt. Joseph Krejsa, 50, were indicted for allegedly using excessive force against arrestees and trying to cover up misconduct.
Winkle is facing 11 charges. He is charged with depriving five arrestees of their rights to be free from excessive force, and for writing false reports about his use of force against those arrestees, as well as two other arrestees, according to U.S. Attorney John Childress.
According to the indictment, Winkle kicked, punched, knee-struck, and used a taser on arrestees without justification, resulting in bodily injury.
Gibson faces three charges. He is charged with depriving two arrestees of their rights to be free from excessive force, and one count of writing a false report. According to the indictment, Gibson punched, knee-struck, and stomped on arrestees without justification, resulting in bodily injury.
Krejsa is charged with two counts of writing false reports related to Winkle’s excessive force incidents. According to the indictment, Krejsa minimized the level of force used by Winkle during an arrest and falsely represented that an MPD sergeant cleared Winkle of use of force when it was Krejsa who reviewed the incident.
Posey is charged with writing a false report related to Winkle’s excessive use of force incidents. According to the indictment, Posey misrepresented an arrestee’s behavior and omitted Winkle’s unlawful use of force.
The new indictment includes additional excessive force and false report charges against Winkle and Gibson. The indictment also charges Posey with obstruction.
