U.S. District Court jury finds ex-New Castle police officer guilty of battering arrestees

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A U.S. District Court jury found a former New Castle police officer guilty of battering arrestees.

The jury on Friday convicted Aaron Jason Strong, 46, of three counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and one county of witness tampering.

The Henry County man will face up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on Jan. 7.

In July 2022, Strong was indicted by a federal court grand jury . Federal prosecutors alleged at that time that Strong had physically abused three arrestees.

He was accused of using an expandable baton to strike one man in the head, jaws, arms and back more than 20 times in 2019. In 2017, he was accused of shooting another arrestee in the head at close range with a bean bag shotgun and kicking yet another man in the head.

Strong, who was a lieutenant with the New Castle Police Department, resigned from that position in December 2019.

In a release issued Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's civil rights division called Strong "a repeat offender who defied his oath and abused his law enforcement authority to violently and unlawfully assault multiple individuals."

U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers, in the same release, said Strong "repeatedly and unlawfully abused his position of authority to influence violence, injury and pain, with now lawful justification.

"Our community deserves better," Myers added.

A co-defendant, Adam Guy, a former reserve deputy with the Henry County Sheriff's Department, was found not guilty of obstruction of justice.

Guy, who is Strong's nephew, had been accused of misleading Indiana State Police troopers who were investigating the allegations against his uncle.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: U.S. District Court jury finds ex-New Castle police officer guilty of battering arrestees