WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind, — No charges will be filed against the police officer seen on video holding a black Purdue University student to the ground in the snow back in February.
Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings, who was the special prosecutor on the case, says he’s reviewed what was caught on video as well as the footage from Officer Jon Selke’s body-worn camera and says Selke acted well within the bounds of the law but added that he could have been a little less rough.
“It’s not even a close call that (Selke) was not going to be charged with a crime,” Cummings told WISH-TV. “This is an issue of a person who was involved in a domestic relationship behaving the way he should not have.”
The person is Adonis Tuggle, who Cummings says is the man seen on video refusing to cooperate with officers as they tried to deescalate a situation between him and his girlfriend. It was in a parking lot on the Purdue campus where police approached Tuggle who was standing outside his girlfriend’s SUV.
“He had her phone. He had her keys. She couldn’t leave,” Cummings said. “People in the community were saying ‘you need to help, he’s trying to pull her out of the car’.”
“(Officer Selke) intervened on behalf of the victim and successfully restrained Mr. Tuggle until backup arrived without injuring him,” Cummings wrote in his report. “For that, Officer Selke should be commended, not vilified.”
Cummings believes Tuggle used his race to try and “justify his wrongful behavior.” His report also found that Tuggle committed several crimes both leading up to and during the scuffle with officers, but Officer Selke and Purdue University Police have asked Cummings not to file any charges.
The mother of the girlfriend also told WISH-TV not to publish her and her daughter’s names, but the mother sent a statement. “At this time I would refer you to Prosecutor Cummings factual report.”
