Judge pleads guilty in shooting at downtown White Castle
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A southern Indiana judge criminally charged in a fight and shooting at a downtown Indianapolis fast-food restaurant has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, online court records show.
All other charges against Andrew Adams were dropped as part of the guilty plea deal. He was sentenced Monday to a year in jail, but the sentence was suspended.
Adams and another Clark County judge, Brad Jacobs, were shot just before 3:30 a.m. May 1 after an altercation near the parking lot of a downtown White Castle, 55 W. South St. Jacobs and Adams were shot when words were exchanged between the judges and two other men.
Adams, Jacobs and Crawford Circuit Judge Sabrina Bell were visiting Indianapolis for a conference.
Charges also also were filed against two other men in the altercation, Brandon Kaiser and Alfredo Vazquez, both from Indianapolis. Vazquez has been offered the same plea deal Adams received, according to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
All three men initially faced charges of battery and battery resulting in bodily injury.
Police said Adams and Jacobs were shot after a sport-utility vehicle with Kaiser and Vazquez inside pulled into the White Castle parking lot. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Kaiser and Vazquez got out of the SUV and tried to go into the restaurant, but its door was locked. Words were exchanged between the men, and a physical fight broke out before Adams and Jacobs were shot. Kaiser and Vazquez got back into their SUV and drove away from the scene before police arrived.
Surveillance video at the restaurant captured the shooting.
The Indiana Supreme Court said Monday that Adams remains suspended with pay. He was suspended June 28 after he was formally charged in Marion County.
Kaiser has a pretrial conference set for Friday. Vazquez has a pretrial conference set for Nov. 8. Neither man was listed on online jail records Monday.