5+ tort claims linked to Sheriff costly to Henry County, insurance policy canceled

HENRY COUNTY, Ind. — “You know, I’m not concerned about bogus tort claims,” said Henry County Sheriff John Sproles in an hour-long interview in March.

In 2022, Sproles had only been a cop for three years when he won a contested four-candidate Republican primary and breezed to victory in the general election to become Sheriff.

In the 16 months since taking office, Sproles and his department have been hit with an unusually high number of tort claim notices. As of Thursday, it’s a dozen claims, and it’s become an expensive problem. It has also strained the relationship between Sproles and other county officials.

Now, Sproles pointed out, “There’s been no judgments against me. No claims paid out. These will all see their day in court.”

The Sheriff is partially correct here. There are no judgments or jury awards, yet.

By Indiana law, claims against a local government are required to be filed within six months of a loss or injury. That simply reserves the right of the plaintiff to bring the matter to court.

The final word on whether a municipality, or in this case the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, fights the claim in court often belongs to their insurance company.

And Travelers Insurance had seen quite enough.

In December, Travelers sent Henry County a notice of cancellation for its Umbrella Liability Occurrence policy. The notice stated the reason for canceling the policy was “ a significant change to Henry County Commissions’ approach to risk management. These changes create a substantial increase in the hazards contemplated for the county .”

The county’s insurance agent Josh Estelle made a direct appeal to Travelers CEO Alan Schnitzer about the cancellation. The effort to get the policy reinstated failed.

Estelle explained to the Henry County Commissioners in a January meeting that “the crux of the cancellation surrounded a couple of claims involving the Sheriff.”

Actions taken by Sproles are directly linked to a number of the claims Henry County now faces. They include:

Atwood v. Sproles

• Filed January 12, 2024. Kory Atwood accuses Sheriff Sproles of defamation. The claim charges Sproles ran criminal background checks on Atwood without any reason, and allegedly referred to Atwood as a “known gang member” attempting to infiltrate police departments.

Baker v. Sproles

• Filed January 12, 2024. Diane Baker says after discovering she was the source of frequent criticism on Sheriff Sproles’ official government webpage, he improperly searched her name in a criminal justice database three times.

Neal v. Sproles

• Filed November 2, 2023. Marquette Neal seeks damages for wounds suffered behind both knees. While locked in a cell in the Henry County Jail, Neal was repeatedly kicking a steel cell door. Sheriff Sproles responded by firing four so-called “less lethal” beanbag rounds into Neal’s legs from a distance of less than two feet.

Humphries v. Sproles

• Filed November 2, 2023. Town of Shirley Police Officer Roger Humphries seeks a $100,000 settlement for his claim that Sproles tried to get him fired after the two disagreed on how to manage a disabled bus.

Winston v. Sproles

• Filed October 6, 2023. Winston is the leader of a Milwaukee dance troupe. Their bus broke down near I-70. The Sheriff, on his way home from church, stopped to investigate. Sproles is recorded on police body-cam saying he suspected the troupe might be a human trafficking operation. After lengthy roadside questioning satisfied Sproles, Winston and the dance troupe were permitted to go.

Sproles insists his administrative style is to delegate tasks, but he admitted that “there are some things you just can’t walk away from.”

His hands-on tendency comes at a price.

Henry County did find replacement liability insurance. Coverage was cobbled together from multiple insurance companies which ended up costing an additional $230,000. The deductible also zoomed from $25,000 per incident to $150,000.

The issue has caused friction between Sproles and County Commissioners Steve Dellinger and Bobbi Plummer.

“I think some of the claims he may not be taking as seriously,” said Plummer.

Dellinger admitted to sleepless nights because of the growing pile of tort claims involving the Sheriff and his department and said “It’s starting to be mind-boggling.”

Sproles said he believes the two commissioners are raising the issue at public meetings to “undermine his credibility.”

“Commissioner Dellinger, I feel has had it in for me from day one,” Sproles said. “Him and Commissioner Plummer, crystal clear.”

Sproles even endorsed the commissioner’s opponents in their Republican primary races. Dellinger still prevailed, but Plummer was defeated by Susan Huhn.

Dellinger noted: “It was hurtful, a little, that he would do that. But that’s his right.”

“There’s no secret in the county that the Sheriff doesn’t care for me, and that’s fine,” explained Plummer.

The commissioners said their concern is finding money in the county budget if claims continue to come in.

“It’s concerning how far into reserves we’re gonna have to go for right now,” said Plummer.

“I’m not sure because (the tort claims) continue to come,” added Plummer.

And just last week, another claim arrived.

The family of 25-year-old Nicholus Woolums has filed a wrongful death claim. Woolums was killed in a police chase on April 18 that ended with a crash in Muncie. Wollums was a passenger in a vehicle pursued by first-year Deputy Tanner Strelecky.

FOX59/CBS4 has previously reported that , at the time of the chase, Strelecky had not yet attended the state law enforcement academy and that the police pursuit was not supervised by superior officers with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.

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