May 14, 2015

South Bend Police Officer Charged for Assaulting and Injuring an Arrestee

The Justice Department announced that South Bend, Indiana, Police Department Officer Theodore Robert, 40, has been charged with a criminal civil rights violation for allegedly assaulting and injuring an arrestee at the St. Joseph County Jail. The incident at the jail occurred on May 30, 2010.

According to the indictment, South Bend Police Officer Theodore Robert, while acting under the color of law, willfully deprived G.H., an arrestee, of the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a person acting under color of law. Specifically, Officer Robert assaulted G.H., resulting in bodily injury to G.H.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division enforces a federal provision regarding deprivation of rights under color of law. This provision makes it a crime for a person acting as a law enforcement officer to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

The investigation by the South Bend Resident Agency of the FBI is ongoing. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Stephen Curran and Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.