An incident involving Warsaw Police Department Chief Scott Whitaker will be reviewed by the Indiana State Police.

Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer told the Times-Union on Thursday that he had just learned of the incident and had not read Whitaker’s report or seen any video at that time.

Then on Friday, after speaking with city attorney Scott Reust, Thallemer said they reviewed the materials and asked the ISP to review them as well to see if any investigation was warranted.





“I haven’t had a formal complaint,” Thallemer said, but he’s had people suggest to him that something occurred.

An attempt by the Times-Union Friday to reach the man involved in the incident was unsuccessful.

ABC 57 News, South Bend, reported Monday afternoon that “several sources” told them that the incident results from a Jan. 25 incident involving a suspected impaired driver. Whitaker was off duty – which Thallemer confirmed to the Times-Union last week – and confronted a 74-year-old man. No one was arrested in the incident.

The man did not file a complaint and told ABC 57 that he does not want to be at the center of any drama in the city. He also said he has not had a drink since 1980.

The Times-Union requested a WPD report regarding the incident but Thallemer today refused to release the report, saying he was instructed by ISP not to release further information.

ABC 57 has requested the incident report, body cam and dash cam footage.

This morning the mayor released the following statement:

“On January 25, Chief of Police Scott Whitaker was traveling in his personal car and was off duty. He encountered what appeared to be an impaired driver. He phoned Central Dispatch immediately and requested on-duty response. After the vehicle stopped, Chief Whitaker initiated an investigation, patrol arrived and the incident was managed to closure.

“There were no complaints reported or filed from the incident.

“On February 7, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer was made aware of anonymous allegations regarding the incident. Less than 24 hours later, the city notified (ISP) to review all materials pertinent to the incident. Historically, whenever there is a question regarding the chief of police, ISP is notified to review the information and then conduct an investigation, if warranted.

“At this time, no details of the incident will be released pending review by the Indiana State Police.”