Deputy injured in fight in jail parking lot

Dario Lopez-Mendez
Dario Lopez-Mendez

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story had the amount of the alleged bribe incorrect. It was $1,000.

A captain in the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department was injured after a fight with a man in the parking lot outside the jail.

The incident started at about 4:30 p.m. Monday when deputies saw a man sitting in a pickup truck in the parking lot, throwing what appeared to be a beer can out onto the pavement, says Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department. As deputies watched, the man kicked that can and another into the street.

Capt. Dave Steinkoenig and another deputy approached the man and as he stepped out of the vehicle, they could see another beer can in the center console. The man allegedly tried to run, which led to the deputies chasing him and tackling him a short distance away. The man,identified first as Vladimir Lopez and eventually as Dario Lopez-Mendez, suffered a bump on his head and Steinkoenig was left bleeding from his arm.

While waiting for medics to arrive, Lopez-Mendez allegedly offered to pay the deputies a thousand dollars to let him go. He told the deputies that he didn’t want to be deported.

He is facing charges of Bribery, Resisting Law Enforcement, False Informing and Public Intoxication.