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A Claypool man was arrested after allegedly shooting a deer on property without the landowner’s permission and ignoring police commands.
Matthew Glen Maher, 39, of 8971 S. CR 100E, Claypool, is charged with battery on a public safety official, a level 5 felony; resisting law enforcement, a level 6 felony; two counts of resisting law enforcement, class A misdemeanors; illegal taking or possession of a white-tail deer, a class B misdemeanor; and failure to obtain consent to use private land, a class C misdemeanor.
He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 7:55 p.m. Jan. 21 on a $10,000 preliminary bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit, at approximately 6:10 p.m. Jan. 21, an Indiana Conservation officer received information from the Indiana Conservation Office dispatch about a subject chasing a deer in a field on CR 300 South. The conservation officer responded and found an off-road vehicle (ORV) in a field without lights on and stationary.
The conservation officer drove into the field, saw the ORV lights turn on and the vehicle drove south. The conservation officer caught up to the ORV and activated his emergency lights. At multiple points during the attempted stop, the ORV crossed in front of the conservation officer’s lights and the officer identified the operator as Maher from previous contact.
The conservation officer used his public address system in his police vehicle and ordered Maher to stop. It appeared to the officer Maher attempted to drive beside or behind the police vehicle. The conservation officer exited his police vehicle and yelled at Maher to stop. Maher allegedly refused to stop. The officer terminated the pursuit and notified Kosciusko County Dispatch Maher was headed to his residence.
At approximately 6:30 p.m., an officer responded to the area. The officer saw the ORV disregard a stop sign at CR 900S and CR 100E and activated his emergency lights. Maher continued and pulled into his driveway. The officer exited his police vehicle. Maher abruptly exited the ORV and walked away from law enforcement. The officer ordered Maher to stop several times. The orders were allegedly ignored.
The officer pursued Maher on foot who tried to enter his residence and the officer grabbed Maher’s arm. Maher attempted to forcefully shut the door, which caused the door to hit the upper part of the officer’s kneecap. The officer suffered visible swelling and bruising. Maher then physically pushed the officer and shut the door.
Law enforcement responded to assist and staged outside Maher’s residence. Maher exited his residence several times and told officers to leave. Officers told Maher he was under arrest and he ignored their commands and went back inside. Maher refused to comply for about 27 minutes and then exited the residence.
The conservation officer responded back to the original scene and followed Maher’s ORV tracks to a fresh gut pile from a white-tail deer. The conservation officer spoke with the original callers who said they saw Maher driving back and forth around 4:30 p.m. Maher then stopped and appeared to look at the area where the deer gut pile was. The caller said he saw Maher enter the property with a flashlight when it got dark.
The officer spoke with the property owner, who said he did not give Maher permission to hunt a white-tail deer and didn’t know Maher.
The conservation officer then went to Maher’s residence and saw fresh blood on the ORV, along with a bloody knife. The conservation officer obtained a search warrant for the ORV and located a rifle. The firearm ammunition capacity was 11 rounds and had seven rounds in the firearm. The conservation officer also found several empty and full beer cans.
Another conservation officer found a deer about a quarter-mile south of Maher’s residence with similar boot prints found at the gut pile.
