A request for a protective order against Warsaw Police Detective Paul Heaton was denied in Kosciusko Superior Court III. There was no hearing on the matter. The request for the protective order was filed March 4 by Kimberly Richardson. Judge Joe Sutton denied the order Friday, noting in his ruling that the order could be amended and filed again. The case originally was filed in Superior III, but Sutton ordered the case transferred to Kosciusko Circuit Court. The Circuit Court declined to accept transfer of the case from Superior Court and transferred it back to Sutton’s Court. Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Detective Joshua Spangle met with Kosciusko County Prosecutor Dan Hampton Nov. 25 and March 3 regarding Richardson’s allegations against Heaton. According to a case report filed by Spangle, Richardson told Spangle that Heaton had been asking people about her whereabouts and that she was fearful about why this was happening. Richardson told Spangle while at work, a co-worker received a text message from a third party who had “urgent information” for Richardson. Richardson then spoke to the third party who informed her Heaton and a state trooper “cornered” another friend of theirs at a gas station where he worked. They asked the friend about Richardson’s whereabouts and whether she was using drugs. The third party also told Richardson he believed Heaton had been following him in an attempt to obtain her whereabouts, the report states. Richardson also told Spangle that on Feb. 24, she had been subpoenaed as a grand jury witness in the case against Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine. While in the waiting area, Heaton allegedly entered the room and began staring at her, making her uncomfortable. She was never called to testify. Richardson told Spangle she is fearful of Heaton because she has cooperated with a KCSD investigation targeting Heaton that began in October. She told Spangle she was concerned that Heaton would plant false evidence against her. After discussing the case with Hampton, Spangle gave Richardson the option of filing a protective order against Heaton. Richardson agreed that she would and was assisted in doing so by a prosecutor’s office employee. After reviewing Spangle’s report, Hampton advised Spangle not to follow up on the information provided by Richardson, specifically, by obtaining video from the gas station where Heaton and the state trooper allegedly confronted Richardson’s friend, the report states. Recent published reports claimed Richardson was a confidential informant for the Warsaw Police Department. Richardson denies ever have been a confidential informant. Rovenstine has elected to remove himself from any investigations involving Heaton, so deputies report to Hampton for matters beyond their discretion. According to Hampton, protective orders only require a lenient burden of proof and are normally granted. Richardson can file the order again and file a request for hearing.
