A Valparaiso man
has been arrested on a charge of impersonating a law enforcement officer, in
connection with an incident at Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area on Friday, May
19, the Indiana Department of Natural Resource said.
Booked into the
LaPorte County Jail on that charge was Austin Shultz, 20, identified by the
DNR as having been an employee of the Westville Correctional Facility.
Conservation
Officer Shawn Brown told the Chesterton Tribune today that the DNR
initially used social media to appeal to the public for assistance. “We
developed some leads from that, came up with a suspect, and worked with
Westville Correctional,” Brown said.
“The public is
amazing, that we can call out to them,” Brown added. “It really helped a
lot. And the Conservation Officer kept pushing and pushing.”
According to the
DNR, at 11:30 p.m. May 19 three teenagers were fishing near the Kankakee
River when the driver of a dark colored Ford Crown Victoria with a bumper
guard pulled into the area and shined a spot light on them. The driver, a
white male in his early twenties--described as wearing dark-colored BDU-style
cargo pants and carrying a holstered handgun and large knife--then exited
the vehicle and approached them.
The suspect told
the teens that he was responding “on behalf of DNR” to a complaint of
someone’s shooting a high-powered rifle, then asked to see their fishing
licenses, the DNR said.
However, as the DNR
reported, neither the Indiana Conservation Officers’ Central Dispatch Center
nor the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Police received any complaint of someone’s
firing a high-powered rifle at Kingsbury FWA at any time on Friday.
“Typically, an
Indiana Conservation Officer will conduct a fishing license check but any
police officer is authorized to check for a fishing or hunting license,” DNR
said. “Indiana Conservation Officers assigned to regular field patrol
typically drive a fully marked pick-up truck or SUV and wear a complete
uniform with a badge and shoulder patches. Officers working in plain clothes
will identify themselves by producing a badge and law enforcement
credentials.”
Impersonating a law
enforcement officer is a Level 6 felony punishable by a term of six months
to 30 months.