Huntertown man gets 10 years for injuring police officer

("My Trusty Gavel" by Brian Turner, CC BY 2.0)

A northeastern Indiana man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for seriously injuring a police officer while fleeing authorities.

Fifty-three-year-old Kevin J. Turner of Huntertown had pleaded guilty to three felony charges, including resisting law enforcement, for the October incident involving Kendallville police Officer Blake Kugler.

Police were pursuing Turner for riding his motorcycle recklessly when Kugler was injured.

The officer was standing outside his patrol car in a hospital parking lot when Turner clipped one of Kugler’s legs with his motorcycle, causing a serious injury that required surgery.

A Noble County judge who sentenced Turner last week to 15 years in prison, with five years suspended, also suspended his driver’s license for 16 years and ordered him to pay $29,000 in restitution.