Two Greendale Police Officers, One Other Arrested For Obstruction Of Justice

Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 11:03 AM

The charges stem from an incident on December 26 involving female juveniles.

Dustin Hatfield, Clinton Putnam and Bradley Putnam. Photos by the Dearborn County Sheriff's Office.

(Greendale, Ind.) – Two Greendale Police officers and the brother of one of the officers have been arrested after allegedly destroying or manipulating video evidence.

Dustin Hatfield, 32, and Clinton Putnam, 34, were placed on administrative leave in January amid allegations that they destroyed or erased evidence and were dishonest about it.

On Tuesday night, Hatfield, Putnam and his brother, Bradley Putnam were taken into custody.

Through the course of the investigation, Indiana State Police learned that Dearborn County Dispatch received a 911 call on December 26 from the boat docks behind McDonald’s in Lawrenceburg. The caller said they witnessed “a cop down here that put a bunch of teenagers in a car and is doing burnouts all over the parking lot.”

Lawrenceburg Police responded to the call. A day later, Hatfield allegedly called one of the responding officers and explained that his sister, who lives out of town, has two foreign exchange students, approximately 15 and 17-years-old, staying with her and they wanted to see and drive a police car.

Hatfield, who was off duty during the incident, called on-duty Officer Clinton Putnam to meet at the boat docks. According to a probable cause affidavit, the girls entered Putnam’s police cruiser and Hatfield confirmed the emergency lights were activated. Hatfield told police the girls exited the vehicle before any burnouts were done, and that he “didn’t believe his actions were a big deal as the boat ramp is where the department held their evasive driving training.”

Greendale Police requested Putnam remove the “SD” card from his in-car camera system and bring it to the PD for review. Court documents show that Hatfield asked another Greendale Police officer to replace the SD card with a “fried” card so that no data could be recovered. The officer refused to comply with Hatfield's request.

After learning of the possible card swap, Greendale Police obtained the SD card and discovered only one video file and it was dated December 26. The video lasted about one minute and showed Hatfield in the back of Putnam’s police cruiser outside of Hatfield's home. At the beginning of the video, Hatfield can be heard saying “stop”.

Greendale Police checked records and located eight incidents where Putnam’s in-car camera should have been activated and recording to the SD card between December 19 and December 21. Those eight incidents that should have been on the SD card were not there.

Hatfield came into contact with a Lawrenceburg Police officer on December 27. During the exchange, Hatfield allegedly asked if there were video cameras in the boat dock area and asked the officer to find out. The Lawrenceburg officer refused and then asked if Putnam’s police vehicle had an in-car camera system, and Hatfield replied, “Yeah, but its already been taken care of,” Hatfield then showed the officer an SD card he removed from his wallet that was broken into three pieces. Hatfield told the officer he removed the SD card from his department issued vehicle’s in-car system and recorded a video file on it.

Investigators also learned that Putnam and Hatfield had a cell phone conversation about finding a new SD card, in addition to a second call about unplugging the GPS from Putnam's police cruiser.

As for Bradley Putnam, 37, investigators believe he provided assistance in manipulating or destroying the SD card. During an interview, Bradley denied helping his brother and Hatfield.

However, records show that Bradley Putnam was conducting research on how to destroy or manipulate a compact flash card and SD card on December 26 and 27, 2019, in addition to purchasing a ScanDisk Ultra 16 G digital media storage device on December 26.

Hatfield and Clint Putnam are charged with Official Misconduct (Level 6 Felony) and Obstruction of Justice (Level 6 Felony). Bradley Putnam is charged with Obstruction of Justice (Level 6 Felony). All three are held in the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center pending their initial hearing.

“Bad judgment and criminal activity have no place in our police departments," said Prosecutor Lynn Deddens. "We know most of our police officers work hard, make good decisions, and do the right thing. When they don’t, we have to insist on accountability. These officers not only used poor judgment in the original act, they broke the law by going to such lengths to cover it up. Their behavior mars the reputation of other officers."