Former Marion Co. Constable Pleads Guilty to Two Separate...

Source: WISH-TV / WISH-TV

MARION COUNTY, Ind. — From constable to convicted: Denise Paul Hatch has put down the badge and pled guilty in two separate criminal cases against her.

Hatch is the former Center Township Constable in Marion County, but while she still wore the badge, she had multiple run-ins with the law. In February, Hatch was charged with official misconduct and theft for apparently stealing broccoli from a grocery store in Indianapolis. Police say Hatch, who was wearing her badge at the time, told store employees that only the sheriff could arrest her.

Then came Hatch’s clash with Indianapolis Metro Police.

IMPD had detained one of Hatch’s deputies and had him inside of a patrol car.

He was accused of carrying a gun while being a convicted felon. That case is still pending.

As for Hatch, she apparently tried to open the patrol car door to get her deputy out. That whole incident added another charge of official misconduct to Hatch’s record, as well as attempted assisting a criminal and attempted resisting law enforcement.

Denise Hatch posted the 500-cash bond in that case and was then caught up in legal trouble once again.

Shortly after the run-in with IMPD, Hatch was charged in May with official misconduct and unlawful carrying of a handgun for having a gun while working security in her Constable uniform. Hatch was charged in this case because the February felony case was still pending. Indiana law prevents anyone with a pending felony case from having a gun.

The trouble with Hatch didn’t stop there.

In August, Denise Hatch was on home detention. Earlier this month, Hatch apparently interrupted a public meeting at the Center Township Government Center and cussed out Trustee Ladonna Freeman – all while wearing her Constable uniform and being accompanied by one of her deputies. That whole situation gave Hatch another official misconduct charge alongside a charge of disorderly conduct.

That brings us to today.

Denise Hatch has pled guilty to official misconduct and unlawful carrying of a handgun in the May case. She also pled guilty to disorderly conduct in the October case.

Hatch has long since argued that her treatment has been a conspiracy against her. Hancock County Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Bandy doesn’t have much to add to that assessment, “I’m not going to comment on her theory. That’s not anything that I’ve been a part of, and in fact, that’s why the Marion County prosecutor (Ryan Mears) perhaps recused himself to avoid that appearance of impropriety that may have been alleged. I’m not saying it exists. I have no knowledge of that.”

She’s been sentenced to 288 days time-served in the Marion County Jail, per a plea deal. That means she is not behind bars.

Hatch’s attorney Mario Massillamany says this was a good resolution for the case, “this allows her to move on with her life without having the penalty of doing any further jail time.”

Massillamany says Hatch’s belief in her theory may have influenced her behavior in some cases, “she believed that everyone around her that she had to deal with tried to make sure that she was put in a position to fail. And that’s why she, in some ways, was extremely aggressive in the nature in which she conducted business.”

Denise Paul Hatch has been automatically removed from office, per Indiana law.