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Monday, September 08, 2008
Ind. Law - "People can get arrested for shoving, grabbing"
Last Monday Ken Kosby has a story in the NWI Times about school zone speeding and school bus stop arm violations. Today he writes about domestic battery laws, in a continuing "series of articles highlighting commonly broken laws, explaining common misconceptions about the laws and detailing what types of actions will get a person arrested." Some quotes from today's story:
Police officers who enforce Indiana's domestic battery laws say some people don't realize they can be arrested on battery charges even if the victim doesn't have a black eye or bloody nose, and even if the victim doesn't want to press charges.Porter County police Lt. Chris Eckert said police can arrest a person on battery charges if they do something as simple as pushing another person or grabbing their wrists.
"The statute reads, if we have probable cause to believe a battery has occurred, we will make an arrest," Eckert said. "We're going to protect the victim from further injury whether they want to be protected or not." * * *
Eckert said people arrested on battery charges often have an additional charge of interference with reporting a crime added. It is a misdemeanor offense to break a telephone, take a telephone away from a victim or otherwise interfere with the reporting of a crime.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 8, 2008 10:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Law