Ex-Muncie cop admits assaulting arrestee, falsifying report

A former Muncie police officer pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting an arrestee and writing a false report to cover up the incident, federal prosecutors said.

Jeremy Gibson, 31, pleaded guilty to violating the arrestee's civil rights and to obstructing justice for the false report, prosecutors said. He faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced.

According to court documents and statements made during the change of plea hearing, Gibson on May 13, 2019, initiated a traffic stop because one of a car’s headlights was out. When the driver stepped out of the car, Gibson tried to take him to the ground and punched him several times with a closed fist.

As other officers tried to secure the driver, Gibson used his knee to strike the driver on the right side of the driver’s head, causing the driver’s head to swing to the side, at which point another officer delivered a knee strike to the opposite side of the driver’s head, prosecutors said. Gibson then wrote the false report.

Three other Muncie police officers — Officer Chase Winkle, Officer Corey Posey and Sgt. Joseph Krejsa — were charged in a 17-count indictment for their roles in using excessive force against arrestees and attempting to cover it up, prosecutors said. Those officers are scheduled to stand trial in August 2022.

A fifth, former Officer Dalton Kurtz, pleaded guilty charges last August.