by Ian Freeman, for FreeKeene.com

Ten days ago, Free Keene blogger and Cop Block founder Ademo Freeman was arrested in Kansas on a warrant for chalking in front of the Noblesville, Indiana police department. In the latest salvo in the War on Chalk, Noblesville PD had issued warrants for both Ademo and Brian Sumner, who have been on the Cop Block MAC Tour (Mobile Accountability for Cops) for weeks. Now, Ademo and Brian are pausing the MAC tour and last night turned themselves in at Noblesville PD to clear up the warrants. Here’s their full explanation as to why they turned themselves in and do not wish to be bailed out.

Last night, accompanied by Cop Blockers from Ohio and Indiana, they arrived at Noblesville PD and began chalking police accountability messages with the same liquid chalk product they’d used several weeks ago that resulted in misdemeanor “criminal mischief” charges for them both.

After twenty minutes of chalking, no police had come out to stop them, so they called 911 to alert the police that wanted men were outside their building. Here’s the video of the arrests, recorded by Indiana Cop Blocker Miah Dalek Akston:

They intend to sit in the clink until they are released. How long will Noblesville hold them for this dastardly crime before they face trial? Will the charges be dropped before then? Only time will tell. Stay tuned to Free Keene and Cop Block for the latest.

Meanwhile, Ademo suggests you contact James Baldwin, the Judge in their case or (if you really want to let them know you disapprove) visit the Noblesville Police Department and exercise your first amendment right with some chalk. You never know, you might even be lucky enough to join the guys in jail.

James Baldwin: (317) 776-8595
Hamilton County Jail: (317) 776-9800

To deposit money into Ademo and Brian’s account to use while in the cage, you can go to https://pay.gettingout.com and enter Hamilton County Jail, Indiana.

Update: A tentative trial date was set for December 8, 2015. Until then, both Ademo and Brian will continue to stay locked in a cage waiting for “justice” to prevail.

(Video available below.)

Evansville police may change their ride-along policies this summer, after an officer’s son was accused by an Evansville man of assault during a department sanctioned ride-along.

Up for discussion — should family members be allowed to ride-along with officers?

“I don’t want to be knee-jerk,” said Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin. “Many family members decide to become police officers after a ride-along.”

But a June 28 incident during which Evansville resident Brock Underwood, 21, is accused of attempting to break the cell phone of a man recording an arrest at a Southside gas station has forced the department to pause.

Underwood was riding with his father, Officer Bryan Underwood. He was not charged at the scene — his father was the only officer who witnessed the alleged assault, Bolin said.

Bolin responded immediately by banning Brock Underwood from ever participating in a ride-along. Officer Bryan Underwood will also be counseled on how he might better handle such situations in the future. But the chief has stopped short of promising radical changes to the department’s ride-along policies. Such action would be unpopular with Evansville’s police officers as a whole, he said.

“This is a very popular program,” police spokesman Sgt. Jason Cullum said. “We don’t want one bad apple to spoil it for everyone.”

Video of the encounter is available below:

Over the summer, civilian ride-alongs are a regular occurrence Cullum said.

People like Evansville resident Micas Harris take ride-alongs to see firsthand what police officers do.

“I actually did a ride-along this past Wednesday” Harris said. “It’s really, really cool. They really want you to see what they see.”

Harris, 27, has several friends on the force and he has considered for some time becoming a police officer himself. After Wednesday’s ride-along, he said he’s almost certain he’ll pursue the career.

“The ride-along definitely pushed me over the edge,” Harris said. “This wouldn’t be a job, this would be something I would want to do everyday.”

Like Harris, many people who are considering becoming police officers ride-along to help make their decision, Cullum said. The program is also popular among those who enroll in the department’s citizens’ academy. It also attracts many individuals who just want to see what law enforcement is all about.

While the majority of ride-alongs are strangers, many officers say they feel safer when they know the civilian riding with them.

“I’ve had my wife do a ride-along, and I prefer that to a stranger because I know what my wife will do in a stressful situation,” Cullum said. “When it’s a stranger, you have no idea how that person is going to react.”

Besides reviewing its policy on family ride-alongs, Bolin said the department will also discuss whether it should create more stringent rules on when ride-alongs are allowed out of the police cars.

The policies now “are very vague,” Cullum said. “A lot of it is the officer’s discretion.”

Although the Underwood incident made headlines this month, this is the first time Cullum or Bolin could recall a ride-along getting involved in a police run.

“The ride-along program is an observational program,” Bolin said. “The ride-along should never be part of the run. I’m very displeased with how (Underwood’s) ride-along went.”

Written by Jessie Higgins for Courier Press

Clarksville Police Officer Charles Edelen

UPDATE @ 07/01/2015 1:36 PM:  Charles Edelen’s lawyer, Larry Wilder, has issued more statements and attempted excuses for his client’s behavior.

In an attempt to justify why his client caused a 2-month-old infant to be sprayed so badly with pepper spray that it required serious medical care from a hospital, Wilder said:

“It wasn’t his intent to hurt the child. What you;ve got to understand is this — when you use pepper spray, it fills a room, and it’s a room full of noxious fumes, and the effects are going to be felt upon by lots of people who are there.”

Wilder also confirmed that Edelen has resigned from his job as an officer with the Clarksville Police Department, and announced that Edelen is now divorcing the wife he also pepper sprayed in the face.

“[As a] matter of fact, we filed a motion for trial on the divorce this morning,” said Wilder.

Larry Wilder, Charles Edelen’s defense attorney

UPDATE @ 06/29/2015 9:10 PM: Charles Edelen has chosen to plead not guilty to charges of aggravated battery, domestic battery, and criminal recklessness for pepper spraying his wife, Samantha Edelen, the father of one of her children, now identified as Darius Henderson, and an infant.

Edelen’s attorney, Larry Wilder, has tried to justify the officer’s choice to assault his wife and others with pepper spray because they wouldn’t do as he commanded.  “Pepper spray … is the least physically and intrusive way to deal with someone who you can’t get to do something,” said Wilder. “It is preferred by police. It is preferred over guns, obviously.

The baby who was hit by Edelen’s pepper spray was rushed to Kosair Children’s Hospital with breathing problems, chemical burns to her face, and eyes that were swollen shut.

UPDATE @ 06/26/2015 4:00 PM: More details have been released about the incident.

Police responded to an emergency call from Edelen’s home Tuesday around 10:30 p.m. reporting a man was suicidal. Police arrived to find Edelen held down on the ground by several people.

According to the police report, Edelen said he and his wife reunited after a marital separation, during which she became pregnant by another man. The couple invited the child’s father to their home “to have a few drinks and discuss the issues on hand regarding the child,” but before the child’s father arrived they got into an argument about his wife wearing only a shirt and underwear. Shortly thereafter, the child’s father arrived, and the argument continued.

“Charles [Edelen] advised that is when things became very heated and this incident escalated,” the report stated. “At one point he did have a handgun held to his head and was contemplating suicide.”

The child’s father was questioned by police and told them Edelen went to his bedroom and returned to the living room with a can of pepper spray.

“[Edelen] sprayed the side of [his wife’s] face with pepper spray, causing her to run out of the residence with her 8-year-old son.”

After pepper spraying his wife, Edelen confronted the child’s father while he was holding the infant telling him to put the child down. When the man refused, Edelen sprayed it on the man and his infant daughter. The child’s father then left the home, and a neighbor was able to safely remove the child. Edelen proceeded to tackle the man’s father and hit him repeatedly in the face before others at the scene were able to restrain him until police arrived.

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. — A police officer is facing multiple charges following a domestic dispute in which he allegedly pepper sprayed an infant.

Clarksville Police Officer Charles Edelen had a domestic dispute with his wife and the father of her child on Tuesday night in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

A police report states that Edelen threatened the child’s father with a gun. Edelen also pepper sprayed the child’s father and the child. The medical condition of the father and the infant is not known at this time.

Edelen is now facing charges of aggravated battery, domestic battery, and criminal recklessness. As aggravated battery is a Class B felony under Indiana law, he could face between six and twenty years in prison if convicted.

According to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pepper spray has been known to cause immediate, life-threatening injuries when exposed to young children.

Online court records show Edelen posted bond and is now free. A judge told Edelen that he is not permitted to possess any weapons or have contact with his victims, and ordered him to seek mental health treatment.