INDIANAPOLIS — Center Township Constable Denise Hatch is being held without bond after being charged with official misconduct for the fourth time this year. She was arrested on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 2.
The new charges stem from a confrontation at a meeting on Sept. 24 that was held by the Center Township Trustee at the Julia Carson Government Building.
Hatch allegedly had another meeting scheduled nearby. According to court documents, Hatch came into the Trustee's meeting, in uniform, and began confronting the trustee.
The trustee allegedly told her, "Denise, you have your own meeting... this is not the time for it."
Hatch allegedly left, and then came back demanding "let me speak, I'm gonna speak, I'm gonna say what I wanna say."
The trustee says Hatch got louder and louder and "complained about being incarcerated for 85 days and went so far as to lift up her leg and put her foot on a chair to show the group her home-detention ankle bracelet."
The trustee says she repeatedly asked, then demanded, that Hatch leave. A special deputy was called in to remove Hatch, who allegedly continued to shout profanity from the hallway.
The trustee "outlined a generalized fear and concern that Constable Hatch would start arresting attendees, based on a past incident with (the trustee's) staff where two professional staff members were handcuffed and transported from the building before being released without later being charged."
The trustee told the investigator, "I mean, it could've been ugly."
The special deputy that removed the Hatch said he saw a deputy constable put his hand on a taser, but the weapon wasn't drawn.
The trustee said, "you feel like there's nothing you can do about it because she's the law. It hurts."
The latest charges were filed against Hatch on Wednesday, Oct. 2. She was previously charged with official misconduct for and incident on May 5 and two incidents on Feb. 8.
(NOTE: the video at the top of this story is from after Hatch's third charge was announced.)
Prior misconduct charges
A Marion County constable is facing several charges after being arrested by IMPD over the weekend.
According to a public police report, Center Township Constable Denise Hatch was arrested during an IMPD investigation the night of Saturday, May 18 in the 1700 block of Lafayette Road, just north of West 16th Street.
According to court documents, IMPD detectives saw Hatch wearing a constable's uniform and had a holstered gun at her waist, despite previous still-pending cases which prevented her from carrying a firearm.
Court documents say IMPD officers then pulled Hatch over in her car around 11:40 p.m. in the 800 block of West 16th Street, near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.
An IMPD lieutenant responded and took over the investigation.
When asked to make a statement, Hatch allegedly said words officers couldn't understand before she said, "no statement," followed by an obscenity.
Investigators confirmed Hatch was carrying a Glock 43 handgun that had a 9mm round in the chamber and three more rounds in the six-round magazine.
Online court records indicate Hatch has been charged with felony official misconduct, as well as unlawful carrying of a handgun and invasion of privacy.
A $25,000 cash bond for Hatch was set by a magistrate, according to court records.
At an initial hearing May 21, Hatch claimed she did not commit any crimes, entering a not guilty plea and stating she would get her own attorney.
Hatch told the judge she had not received any information on why she was in court and had not received a phone call to speak with family or an attorney.
Center Township Trustee LaDonna Freeman provided the following statement regarding Hatch:
"In response to recent inquiries, the Center Township Trustee’s Office will not be commenting or providing interviews concerning the recent events involving Constable Hatch. It is important to clarify that the Center Township Trustee’s Office and the Center Township Constable’s Office operate as separate government entities. Therefore, I will refrain from making any statements regarding an elected official and their respective office.
The priority of the Trustee’s Office remains on delivering essential resources to the residents of Center Township. This statement serves as the sole communication from the Center Township Trustee’s Office on this matter."
Hatch was previously charged with official misconduct, assisting a criminal, theft and resisting law enforcement in February 2024.
The February charges stem from two different cases.
In August 2023, Hatch is accused of stealing produce from an east Indianapolis Kroger store after trying to exchange reportedly rotten broccoli.
In October 2023, an IMPD officer reported that during a traffic stop, the driver called Hatch, who requested to speak with the officer. The officer declined to speak with Hatch.
Later, as the officer placed the driver into custody and began an inventory of his vehicle, Hatch showed up at the scene of the traffic stop. Officers say she tried to open the rear passenger doors of the officer's police car while he was interviewing the driver.
According to police, a search of the vehicle uncovered a handgun in a toolbox on the passenger-side floorboard of the vehicle.
Hatch also reportedly became hostile toward officers when she learned the driver was being arrested for gun charges. At least one officer told detectives Hatch asked police that the driver not be arrested and that once the officers learned she was a constable, the driver should not have been investigated further.
In May 2023, Hatch was at the center of controversy for a video that was posted to YouTube showing a confrontation over a woman's eviction on the east side of Indianapolis.
Shortly after her own arrest, Hatch told 13News she terminated 40 officers.
Two deputy constables currently face charges for being convicted felons and possessing handguns.
Days later, 32 Center Township deputy constables were reinstated in Marion County, and six new deputies had applied for the job.
Hatch told the fired deputies they needed to get a nationwide criminal background check before she could re-hire them.