Two Indiana State police troopers were relieved of their duties this week for a May assault on a patron who had just left a gay bar in Indianapolis:
“The victim, who wants to remain anonymous, said he was legally parked along Alabama Street around the corner from Greg's Place on May 31. As he was leaving he said two state police officers told him to get out of his parking space immediately. ‘They had a police car; they used their emergency equipment so I fully felt that it was an incident involving police officers. They were later identified as troopers,' said the victim. Curtis Swanson and Marcus Baxter were in an unmarked patrol car with lights flashing. Both had been state troopers for just 10 months. ‘They weren't doing an official police action. They told me to move my car,' said the victim. He said when he didn't follow orders from the troopers he was assaulted.”
WTHR reports: “Both Baxter and Swanson were off duty at the time of the incident. The victim says he refused to give them his parking space and that's when one of the troopers forced him against a brick wall.”
Said ISP Major Carlos Pettiford: “One officer had been drinking, he was not driving a police cruiser, he was not riding one. The other officer wasn't drinking and was in a cruiser.”