GPD Chief: Resignation not submitted by suspended officer by deadline


Termination papers submitted on Joseph Rodriguez
By    Troy Kehoe

GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) - A Greenwood Police Officer accused of punching another officer remained suspended late Friday, despite conditions of a bond agreement that he would resign from his position.
Joseph Rodriguez was released on $9,000 bond late Thursday after agreeing to enroll in an alcohol rehab program, and turn in his badge and service weapons within 24 Hours.
But, Greenwood Police Chief John Laut told I-Team 8 that Rodriguez had not submitted a resignation to him by late Friday. Because Greenwood PD did not negotiate terms of the agreement, Laut said he did not impose a timeline for Rodriguez’s resignation.
“That was negotiated with the prosecutor, and we didn’t have input on that timeline,” he said. “So, I’ve now filed paperwork with [Greenwood's Police] Merit Board recommending his termination.”
The Merit Board is scheduled to meet in executive session on Monday afternoon and will consider the recommendation at that time unless Rodriguez submits his resignation before then, Laut said.
I-Team 8's calls to Rodriguez's attorney, Brian Newcomb, were not immediately returned Friday.
Rodriguez, 39, was off duty when he was arrested by Johnson County Sheriff’s deputies following a disturbance at a party.
Witnesses say Rodriguez was drunk at a party in the Hickory Stick neighborhood when he began choking his wife. When officers arrived, they found him lying in the road. When they tried to help him up, deputies say Rodriguez punched one deputy in the face and kicked medics.
Rodriguez faces charges of battery on two police officers, resisting law enforcement, public intoxication, strangulation and battery against his wife.