Officer

NAPPANEE — A 20-year veteran of the Elkhart Police Department was laid to rest Saturday. Corporal Michael Swygart died unexpectedly while on duty. Fellow officers carried the flag covered casket, a fitting tribute to a man officers say was a mentor and a friend. "He is in our hearts and our minds and we will carry a part of him with us for the rest of our lives," said Lieutenant Todd Thayer an Elkhart police officer. Swygart, 43, served on the Elkhart Police Department for 20 years.

Few details have been released after an early-morning accident Tuesday involving a Plymouth Police officer. At 1:29 a.m., police were sent to the intersection of U.S. 30 and Oak Road with the information a Plymouth Police officer had been involved in an accident. The squad car was towed from the scene. Per Plymouth Police Chief Jim Cox, the officer involved, Ryan Richey, was treated for minor injuries and released from a local hospital.

A preliminary police report lists the cause of Wednesday night's police and fire truck accident as failure to yield by a Roseland police officer. The report says Officer Brian Evard was going north on Juniper with his lights and sirens on. He was following a county officer, who stopped in the intersection to make sure traffic on Cleveland had stopped. At that point a Clay fire truck was going east on Cleveland to another emergency call. The county officer said it appeared the driver of the fire truck was trying to stop, but the tires locked up on the wet road and the Roseland officer hit the fire truck.

SOUTH BEND - A South Bend police officer accused of sexually assaulting two women in separate incidents in September was placed on administrative leave without pay during a special meeting of the Board of Public Safety Thursday morning. Officer Jeffery Chester, 26, was charged last week with two counts of felony official misconduct and two counts of misdemeanor battery. Chester, an officer since March 2010, is accused of inappropriately touching a woman during a pat-down search at Potawatomi Park on Sept.

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) — A 19-year veteran of a Tennessee town's police department is appealing his firing after beer confiscated from minors was given to a fellow officer. According to testimony at a Wednesday hearing, Cpl. Tim Horne was one of several Kingsport officers who responded to a party where there was underage drinking. Officers confiscated three full cases of Natural Lite beer and part of a fourth case. The Kingsport Times-News reported that Horne admitted laughing at a comment that the beer should be given to another officer, although he denied making the comment.

BURR OAK, Mich. — A police officer is in jail, accused of drunk driving after his car ended up in a ditch while on duty. The St. Joseph County, Michigan prosecutor said Todd Lewis is charged with operating while intoxicated and having a weapon — his duty gun — while intoxicated. The Village of Burr Oak police officer was allegedly trying to go around a turn Wednesday night when he drove into a ditch. He was not injured. Bail will be set Thursday afternoon.

DETROIT (AP) - A retired Detroit police officer has shot and killed a male during an armed robbery at a McDonald's restaurant on the city's west side. Detroit police spokesman Samuel Balogun says the former officer was inside the restaurant during the early Friday afternoon holdup and exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Television stations WDIV and WXYZ report that the gunman may have been as young as 16 years old. Balogun says police officials are identifying him as only a "John Doe" and his age was not available.

GRANGER — A St. Joseph County police officer chased a 20-year-old man through a Granger subdivision Sunday after pulling him over for speeding, according to court documents. Joshua Shearer now faces charges of battery to a law enforcement officer, a Class D felony; resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor; and minor consuming, a Class C misdemeanor. He was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail on Sunday and was released today after posting a $1,250 bond.

 Warsaw police officer has resigned after allegations he was having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old high school student. The Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety accepted Patrol Officer Timothy Whitright's resignation Wednesday night. WSBT Reporter Colleen Ferreira, who was at that meeting, sent us a photo of a document detailing the police chief's charges against Whitright: Click here to see it . Whitright is accused of sending the girl inappropriate texts and kissing her on the lips while on duty.

After firing an officer on Tuesday, the Elkhart Safety Board fired a second officer Thursday afternoon. A woman claimed Officer William Lee told her he had a warrant for her and used that to have sex with her while he was on duty last year. Lee denied the allegation. But after a two-day hearing, the board voted three to two to terminate his employment. Lee told the board he now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after being involved in two shootings while on the force.