Former Muncie sergeant admits to writing a false report to cover up officers’ excessive force

Former Muncie sergeant admits to writing a false report to cover up officers’ excessive force.

Former Muncie sergeant and police department supervisor Joseph Krejsa plead guilty yesterday January 10th, 2023 to Obstruction of Justice for falsifying a report covering up excessive force by other officers.

A former Muncie police sergeant has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in Muncie, Indiana. In a plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, Joseph Krejsa, 52, admitted to writing a false report to obstruct justice and cover up excessive force by other officers.

On or about Aug. 9, 2018, Joseph Krejsa responded to the scene of arrest that involved a civilian with the initials L.G. MPD officers — including Officer Chase Winkle and the son of the Chief of Police — who were under his supervision used excessive force against L.G., resulting in serious bodily injury.

The day after the arrest, Krejsa conducted an investigation into the incident and wrote a false report in order to obstruct justice and prevent an investigation of the officers’ excessive force.

Krejsa was scheduled to be sentenced on June 27. Obstruction of justice carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It is unclear what repercussions or potential charges are being faced by the other officers involved in this incident.

A few days later, on Aug. 14, 2018, the captain of MPD’s patrol division tasked Krejsa to investigate a use of force complaint against Officer Winkle. Krejsa watched the camera videos, which revealed that L.G. had been subjected to excessive force, and yet Krejsa wrote a false report that falsely minimized the amount of force used against L.G.

Specifically, Krejsa falsely said that the force used against L.G. was “reasonable and necessary,” to ensure officer safety. He(Krejsa) falsely stated that officers only used a little force near the start of this incident, and things escalated only after the low-level force was ineffective and falsely outlined that Winkle only “kneeled on ‘s upper body and left shoulder,” when Krejsa clearly new that Winkleused his knee to hit L.G. on the head and neck area.

He (Krejsa) also falsely stated that Winkle’s use of force on L.G. only caused cuts to the face when he(Krejsa) knew that it caused severe bodily injury.

As part of his plea, Krejsa had admitted he knew, when he wrote the false report, that his statements were false and misleading. He also admitted that he wrote the false report in order to obstruct justice and prevent a criminal investigation of Officer Winkle and other officers who had used excessive force during the Aug. 8, 2018, arrest of L.G.

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