MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A former Muncie police officer pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting an arrestee and an obstruction of justice offense for writing a false report to cover it up.
On May 13 of 2019, officer Jeremy Gibson, now age 31, pulled over a car because one of its headlights was out. When the driver stepped out of the car, Gibson attempted to physically take him to the ground and punched him several times in the process, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The DOJ added that as other officers tried to secure the driver, Gibson used his knee to strike the driver in right side of the head, causing the driver’s head to swing to the side, at which point another officer delivered another knee strike to the opposite side of the driver’s head. Gibson then authored a false report about the incident.
Gibson and three other Muncie police officers – Chase Winkle, Corey Posey and Joseph Krejsa – were charged in April of 2021 for their roles in using excessive force against arrestees and attempting to cover up the misconduct. The other three officers are scheduled to stand trial in August of 2022.
Gibson faces up to 30 years in prison.
The DOJ noted that a fifth Muncie police officer, former officer Dalton Kurtz, pleaded guilty in August of 2021 to misprision of felony for concealing and failing to report inappropriate use of force by officer Winkle during a separate incident.