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Female judge flipped off men before fight that ended with two judges shot outside Indy White Castle

Posted at 12:15 PM, Oct 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-11 19:05:42-04

INDIANAPOLIS — Discipline charges have been filed against three judges in relation to the May 1 incident that led to a shooting outside of a White Castle in downtown Indianapolis.

New information revealed in the case on Friday also detail what happened in the hours and minutes leading up to the shooting that left Clark County Circuit Court judges Andrew Adams and Bradley Jacobs suffering from gunshot wounds.

Those court documents were filed October 11 in the Supreme Court.

The court documents detail the night of the shooting, which began when Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Sabrina Bell and Jacobs had dinner and drinks with several other judges and a magistrate on the night of April 30. After dinner, Adams joined the group and several of them went to the Claddagh Irish Pub for more drinks. Bell, Adams, Jacobs and a magistrate all ended up at Brothers Bar & Grill where they "continued to drink alcoholic beverages and socialized" until around 3 a.m.

At that time, the four walked to The Red Garter Gentleman's Club and tried to go inside, but the club was already closed. They then walked to the nearby White Castle on South Street.

READ | Clark County judge pleads guilty to charges in connection with White Castle fight

Just after 3 a.m., court documents say a blue SUV driven with both Alfredo Vazquez and Brandon Kaiser went by the group of judges outside the White Castle and yelled something at them. Bell then "extended her middle finger to the occupants of the SUV."

After that incident, court documents state that Vazquez parked the SUV and went over to where the judges were standing. A heated verbal altercation between the two groups turned into a physical confrontation between the four men and at some point during the encounter both Jacobs and Adams were shot.

Judges Adams and Jacobs were both taken to the hospital where they were treated for their injuries and later released. Detectives later arrested Adams and the two other men involved, Vazquez and Kaiser.

Judge Adams accepted a plea agreement to plead guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury on September 9. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to dismiss six additional charges against Adams. He received a suspended sentence of 365 days. Adams has also petitioned to be reinstated to the bench.

Vazquez is facing seven counts including battery and disorderly conduct and Kaiser is facing 14 counts including aggravated battery, battery, disorderly conduct and carrying a handgun without a license. The prosecutor's office said the same plea agreement was offered to Vazquez in the case.

In a recorded statement about the incident, Bell told detectives that she believed she may have said something to start the incident. "I'm afraid that I said something to those two strange men at first, and then they said something back to me. And then I said something and then those two went to defend me," Bell told police. "I’m not denying that I said something or egged it on…because I drink…I mean I fully acknowledge that I drink and get mouthy, and I’m fiery and I’m feisty, but if I would have ever thought for a second that they were gonna fight or that that guy had a gun on him, I would never, never….”

On October 11, the Indiana Commission of Judicial Qualifications filed disciplinary charges against the three judges; Bell, Adams and Jacobs.

"The Commission alleges misconduct related to the judges' behavior on May 1, while in attendance at a judicial education conference, which led to a physical altercation and resulted in Judges Adams and Jacobs being shot," the statement from the Supreme Court's decision reads.

Adams is charged with three counts of misconduct, Jacobs is charged with two counts of misconduct and Bell is charged with two counts of misconduct.

The three judges each have 20 days to file an answer to the charges filed against them.