FORTVILLE, Ind. -- A Fortville police officer who was shot multiple times in the line of duty in 2012 has given up his position as a lieutenant after being investigated by his own department and Indiana State Police for his handling of an arrest.
Chief William Knauer of the Fortville Police Department says Matt Fox resigned from a supervisory role after Knauer raised concerns that Fox became too physically aggressive with a woman he arrested in July.
Chief Knauer says he became concerned after reviewing Fox's body camera footage from that arrest. He placed Fox on unpaid leave while an internal investigation was conducted.
The chief also contacted ISP to request a criminal investigation. They did not recommend any criminal charges to the prosecutor, who also determined Fox's conduct fell short of battery, so the criminal investigation was closed.
Knauer said Fox committed three department policy violations: conduct unbecoming an officer, failure to uphold the department mission statement and improper interview/testing procedures. The violations relate to allegations that Fox shoved a handcuffed woman he was arresting into a chair and later pulled her from his squad car with more force than was necessary.
Fox was placed on administrative leave on July 17 and returned to duty on Sept. 5 after offering to give up his position as lieutenant, a promotion he received in January.
"I'm proud of every one of our officers. Sometimes we have missteps, and we have to address those. That's we did in this case," said Chief Knauer.
A police commission meeting on discipline for Fox was canceled as a result of the demotion. The woman Fox arrested has not filed any complaints against the officer, according to Knauer.
Matt Fox is a 10-year veteran of the Fortville Police Department. He was promoted to lieutenant in January.
In 2012, he returned to duty 40 days after being shot nine times during a traffic stop.
MORE | Fortville officer: Being shot was 'wake-up call' | Shot Fortville officer Matt Fox works first full day post-shooting
"I made an unfortunate mistake in judgment and will not make the same error in the future. I will continue to educate myself to become the best police officer I can be," said Officer Fox.
