A former Lieutenant with the New Castle, Indiana, Police Department has been sentenced to 151 months in prison for using excessive force against people in custody and obstructing justice by attempting to deceive investigators.
On October 4, 2024, a federal jury convicted Aaron Jason Strong, 47, of three counts of deprivation of rights under colour of law and one count of witness tampering. At trial, evidence introduced by the government established that Strong had intentionally used excessive force against people in police custody on multiple occasions.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division explained that the “vicious and lawless” abuse that Strong perpetrated “has no place in modern” law enforcement.
Strong viciously beat, stomped, and shot three defenceless men with no lawful justification — causing serious injuries, including a fractured spine, said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana.
“After good officers horrified by these abuses reported his actions, Strong lied in an attempt to cover up his crimes,” Myers stated. “The vast majority of police serve the public honourably, and when criminals like Aaron Strong violate their oaths and brutalise the public, an already difficult and dangerous profession grows even more so.”
Evidence presented at trial established that, in August 2019, then-Lieutenant Strong responded to another officer’s report of a foot chase. As Strong arrived, the suspect stopped running, put his hands up, said, “I’m done” and lowered himself to the ground.
As another officer approached to take the suspect into custody, Strong ran up and struck the suspect at least 12 times with a metal police baton, nearly striking a fellow officer.
Other involved officers promptly reported the incident, and the Indiana State Police were called in to conduct an independent criminal investigation. During a meeting with the State Police investigator, Strong gave a false account of the incident in which he minimized his own use of force and exaggerated the danger posed by the suspect.
Strong was also convicted of using excessive force against two men being detained pending trial in a low-security annexe of the Henry County, Indiana, jail. While assisting correctional officers with a dormitory search, Strong stomped on the head of a detainee who was complying with commands to lie on the ground.
A few moments later, Strong approached a second inmate, who was kneeling, not moving, with his back to Strong, and shot him point-blank in the back with a less-lethal “beanbag” round, which Strong had been trained could cause death or serious bodily injury when used at short ranges. The impact from the round fractured the detainee’s spine.
