Probationary officer submits resignation after DUI arrest

ICN file photo

Brentlinger

Less than a week after his drunken driving arrest at the entrance of an eastside military base, Terre Haute Police Department Probationary Officer Joseph R. Brentlinger lll has tendered his resignation.

Chief of Police Shawn Keen announced he had received the 24-year-old's resignation today.

"I have accepted his resignation effective immediately and notified the Terre Haute Police Merit Commission of his separation of employment," Keen said.

Brentiliger, a recent Indiana Law Enforcement Academy graduate, was hired by the THPD in September. He was placed on immediate suspension after crashing his pick-up truck into the fence near Race Way Drive at the Indiana National Guard Air Force Base off SR 42.

​The Vigo County Sheriff's Department investigated the accident that occurred at 1:40 a.m. Friday morning.

According to police scanner traffic at the time, the car left the roadway at the T-intersection near the roundabout. A reporting officer at the scene indicated the truck was "hung up" in the fence and would require a tow truck.  

​Brentlinger was transported to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries suffered in the crash before he was booked into the Vigo County Jail shortly after 5 a.m. He is charged with felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated- prior conviction. He was released on bail  a few hours later. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 16 at 1:30 p.m

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