Muncie police action shooting ruled justified

MUNCIE, Ind. – Two Muncie police officers who shot at a local man as he allegedly tried to run them down with his car will not be prosecuted.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman on Friday said there was “no evidence that the two Muncie police officers who discharged their firearms that day committed any criminal acts.”

Charles Kevin Dinkins, 48, was shot about 2:30 a.m. March 24 as he drove in the parking lot of the U.S. Post Office in the 500 block of West Memorial Drive.

After being wounded, the Muncie man crashed into a parked pickup truck on a city street near the post office.

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He spent a few days in IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for crash injuries and gunshot wounds, before being transferred to the Delaware County jail.

Authorities said the events leading to the police-action shooting began when the two officers tried to pull Dinkins’ Chevrolet Cavailer, for a traffic offense, near Hoyt Avenue and Memorial Drive.

Dinkins fled east, through a supermarket parking lot and down 13th Street, before crashing through a chain-link fence to enter the post office parking lot, reports said. He struck two vehicles, one a postal van, in the lot.

A passenger in Dinkins’ car, a 33-year-old Muncie woman, jumped out of his vehicle in the lot, suffering hand injuries as she fell to the pavement.

The officers left their car and were trying to assist the woman when Dinkins allegedly drove in their direction at a high rate of speed, drawing gunfire.

In a statement, Hoffman said he had reviewed “an extensive and thorough investigation by the Indiana State Police, video and photographs.”

The chief deputy prosecutor said he could not discuss details of the case because Dinkins has yet to stand trial on related charges – attempted aggravated battery, criminal recklessness, resisting law enforcement and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

The Muncie man – being held without bond in the jail – is set to stand trial July 17 in Delaware Circuit Court 1.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. Follow him on Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP.