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MENTONE - The politics of basketball took center stage Saturday at a meeting hosted by Kosciusko County sheriff's candidate Sam Whitaker, who defended his role in an incident that led to his suspension nearly two years ago.
Whitaker, a 17-year veteran of the department, announced his candidacy a week ago and was ready when the issue arose at his first public meeting, held Saturday at Teel's Restaurant.
Whitaker was suspended for one week in 1996 for misconduct, and the multi-county drug task force, which he oversaw, was briefly shut down while the incident was investigated.
Whitaker was accused of obtaining a confession improperly and using it in an alleged vendetta spurred because his son, Mike, had been cut from the Warsaw Community High School basketball team.
Whitaker contends he did the right thing in alerting school officials about underage drinking, even though it appeared there was a conflict of interest.
"I can't apologize for something I felt I had no choice but to do," Whitaker told two dozen people at Teel's.
"You have to do what's right even though it's unpopular. You can't make a difference for a basketball player, a friend or a relative."
Whitaker said Saturday he met with school officials about his son's removal from the team, but never threatened to seek revenge if his son wasn't re-instated.
Whitaker also denied ever promising the student athletes that he would not take the issue to school officials.
He also said he was uncomfortable about forwarding the report to school officials but did so after seeking advice from prosecutor David Kolbe.
Whitaker said he was prevented from speaking about the circumstance at the time, and Saturday's meeting was the first in which he publicly defended his actions.
ÊCircumstances involving the suspension began in late 1995 when Whitaker's son was suspended along with two other WCHS basketball players for the infamous Robitussin incident in which the players drank the cough medicine for euphoric effects. The three players were suspended for three games each, but Whitaker's son was cut from the team soon thereafter.
Whitaker talked with school officials about his son's removal, but said he never made any threats.
Accusations of a vendetta arose later in the year after Whitaker and another officer investigated underage drinking by student athletes. As a result of the report, one player was kicked off the team.
Whitaker was defended by Jerry Moser, a former officer within the department and a member of the drug task force, who said he was with Whitaker when Whitaker took information to school officials about under-age drinking. Moser claims Whitaker voiced concerns about the appearance of a conflict and told school officials he didn't care what they did with the report.
Moser said he didn't think Whitaker did anything wrong in alerting the school to the incident.
"That was not his fault. It was political assassination," Moser said of the suspension.
Moser, who had past run-ins with the department, said he retired within days after the drug task force was re-instated because of how the department handled the incident.
Whitaker was confronted at Saturday's meeting by Merle Heckaman, whose son was one of three players removed from the team. Whitaker denied allegations by Heckaman that the investigative report was falsified.
Another basketball parent, who asked not to be identified, also spoke on Whitaker's behalf, and then took a poke at the basketball program, saying not all players are treated equally when accused of school violations.
"This program is not what it appears to be. There is a lot of favoritism," the parent said.
