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Kosciusko County's prosecutor is considering asking a special prosecutor to look into the Warsaw Police Department's investigation of a suspect in the "Bicycle Bandit" case.
Prosecutor David Kolbe said Monday that while he has not yet made a decision on calling for a special prosecutor, "that is a consideration."
Kolbe would not give specific details on what he thought the police had done wrong, but did say that it involved their investigation of Jerald Womack.
Womack, of West Prairie Street, Warsaw, was arrested in March on a voyeurism charge. WPD investigators later filed information reportedly connecting him with a Winona Lake burglary.
However, a witness, Doug Reiff, who identified Womack in a photo lineup, failed to identify him in a second, live lineup on April 16, Kolbe said.
After Reiff's failure to identify Womack at the second lineup, Kolbe dropped the burglary charges and has since dropped the voyeurism charge as well.
He said Monday that he "had concerns" after talking to Reiff, "to the extent that someone needs to look at it."
He also said his questions involve Warsaw Police Det. Steve Adang. Kolbe earlier had said he had doubts about the legality of a search police made while looking for Womack at a relative's house.
However, Adang was not the only police officer involved in the search, and all of the officers present said the search was conducted legally and with the permission of the caretaker of the property.
Kolbe did not say why he singled out Adang and did not mention the other officers present.
Adang said today that the search in question was only a search for Womack, and that the officers had a valid arrest warrant when the search was made. They were let into the house with the permission of a neighbor who had a key and was taking care of the house and pets while Womack's relative was gone, Adang said.
"Nothing was searched, we were looking for a person in that house," he said. They were in the house about five minutes, Adang said.
Kolbe said there was no implication of wrongdoing, but did not explain why he wants a special prosecutor if nothing was done illegally. He did say that he has forwarded the material to a fellow prosecutor in another county "for an objective read on it."
"It appears that the right thing to do is to seek a special prosecutor," he said.
He said he believes that Womack's attorney is preparing a civil suit over the investigation and arrest, but a phone call to the attorney, Dennis Geisleman, in Fort Wayne, was not returned.
