Indy News

Jury finds 29-year-old guilty of fatal shooting outside liquor store

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Marion County jury on Tuesday convicted a 29-year-old Indianapolis man for the 2023 murder of a 29-year-old man outside a liquor store on the city’s northwest side.

Ja’Que Mason will be sentenced Sept. 5 in Marion Superior Court 28 for the shooting death of Abel Ramos-Utuy just after 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21, 2023, outside the store near the intersection of West 56th Street and Georgetown Road. Ramos-Utuy died a short time later at a hospital.

A news release issued Wednesday from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said that, after the shooting, detectives received a tip from a woman who called 911 with information about the shooting. Upon contacting her, a man indicated that his son might have been involved. This led investigators to Mason, who arrived at the IMPD homicide office with his mother and other witnesses.

Mason told investigators that Ramos-Utuy approached him outside the store, asking if Mason had said something to him. Mason’s friend attempted to deescalate the situation. Mason said that Ramos-Utuy appeared intoxicated and reached behind his back, prompting Mason to fire his weapon. However, no weapon was found on Ramos-Utuy or in his vehicle.

Video footage from the liquor store showed Ramos-Utuy parking next to Mason’s vehicle, entering and exiting the store, and then having a brief conversation with Mason. The footage captured Mason pulling out his handgun and firing at Ramos-Utuy as he turned around and backed toward his vehicle.

Investigators recovered Mason’s Glock and five spent shell casings after receiving consent to search. The magazine for the Glock was found at Mason’s home.

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, a Democrat, said in a statement in the release, “Tensions are elevated when people fear or believe that everyone is armed. It can turn a simple exchange between strangers into murder in a matter of seconds. Nothing leading up to this tragedy warranted any kind of violence, yet a man is dead and the other will spend the rest of his life in prison as consequence.”

No charges filed after woman accuses City-County councilor of groping

Woman accuses City-County Councilor of groping

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Fishers police on Wednesday told News 8 no criminal charges were filed after a woman accused an Indianapolis City-County councilor of groping her during a date.

The 18-year-old woman told News 8’s newsgathering partner, Mirror Indy, she met Nick Roberts, 24, through the dating app Hinge and went on two dates with him. During the second date, on the evening of July 12, the woman said she and Roberts went for a walk along the Nickel Plate Trail in Fishers when he led her onto a side trail, kissed her and groped her. She said she tried to push him away but he did not let go until someone walked by on the main trail. The woman told Mirror Indy she ended the date afterward.

Her stepmother said she then posted a warning about Roberts in a private Facebook group.

Roberts said he and the woman kissed during that second date but he did not grope her.

The Democrat councilor turned down News 8’s request for an interview but posted lengthy video and written statements on his Facebook page. He denied having any unwanted physical contact with the woman.

“During the kiss, she did not push me away or ask me to stop. If she had done either, I would have stopped immediately,” he said in the video.

News 8 obtained the incident report from Fishers police on Wednesday afternoon. According to detectives, the woman said she asked Roberts multiple times to stop, to which she claimed he replied she was shy and just needed to open up. Detectives wrote that there was some surveillance footage of Roberts and the woman on the trail for much of the period during which both Roberts and the woman said they were on the trail. They said the footage never showed any visible signs of distress, such as disheveled clothing. There also was no reference to any unwanted touching in any text messages between the two.

“Although it is difficult to ascertain what may have happened off camera view, what is captured on camera view shows two individuals walking together in normal walking behavior,” detectives wrote. “There was no video of them kissing and there is no video or witnesses to the alleged incident.”

Detectives said the woman later told them exactly where the alleged incident happened. They wrote it was in an area with no surveillance footage. Detectives said they reviewed the case with prosecutors and concluded there was not enough evidence for probable cause that a crime happened.

Anthony Richardson Sr. opens up about dealing with pressure

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. is in an open competition with Daniel Jones for the starting quarterback job.

Richardson was selected No. 4 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Colts, but has played just 15 games in his two seasons in the NFL.

He was asked about pressure, and how he views that as he competes to be a starter in his third year in the NFL. It was a reflective response from Richardson.

“A lot of things in life – we always want certain things,” Richardson said. “But you know, God always has something different in us. He has a different vision for us. So, I don’t feel like there’s any more added pressure. I’ve been dealing with adversity my whole life. Growing up, things weren’t the best and my mom, she did her best to make it great for us. So, I just think back to that, and I remember what it was like back in those times, and my life is way better than what it was before and I’m grateful for that. Not many people get an opportunity to be in the NFL. God blessed me enough to have the chance to do that. This organization believed in me enough to draft me first round, top-five pick. So I don’t think there’s any more pressure. It’s just me working hard and proving them right, and letting them know that they chose the right guy and just proving myself right and just letting me know that my hard work will eventually pay off. At the end of the day, God has it all written for me, and I’m just trying to do my part. So, God willing if I do get this job, I can have my best foot forward and lead the team and just be the leader that they need me to be.”

He played 11 games in 2024, throwing for 1,814 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 499 yards and six touchdowns.

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63-year-old in critical condition after downtown Logansport stabbing

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WISH) — A 63-year-old man was in critical condition on Wednesday morning in a Fort Wayne hospital after he was stabbed in downtown Logansport, the city police chief and assistant chief said in a news release.

The Logansport Police Department release issued Wednesday morning did not publicly name the man stabbed.

The man was near a park bench along a sidewalk when he was stabbed with a knife just before 8:40 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of Broadway. The police department is in that block.

A 39-year-old man, who was not named in the release, was arrested on preliminary criminal charges. The release did not say if formal criminal charges are being considered. The release did not say whether the 39-year-old was jailed.

Logansport, a Cass County city of 18,100 residents, is a 1-hour, 40-minute drive north of downtown Indianapolis.

2 dead, including 17-year-old, in fatal Whitley County crash

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WISH) — According to state police, an “unknown reason” caused six people to crash into truck in Whitley County, causing the deaths of two people.

Indiana State Police reported that the crash happened Tuesday at 2:40 p.m. at the intersection of State Road 9 and County Road 500 North near St. Matthews Community Church at Tri-Lakes.

ISP’s investigation says that six people were inside a 2012 Dodge Avenger when, “for an unknown reason,” the car went from the southbound into the northbound lanes. When it did, the car crashed into a 2019 Ford F-350 pickup truck and trailer.

Two people inside of the Dodge car were killed in the crash: 17-year-old Helmin Ruiz, who was driving, and 40-year-old Trinidad Vasquez. Four other passengers in the Dodge had injuries “that range from minor to severe,” ISP reports.

Everyone in the Dodge was from Huntington, Indiana, except for Vasquez who was from Fort Wayne.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

8.8 magnitude Russian earthquake picked up faintly on Bloomington seismograph

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s east coast at 11:25 a.m. local time Thursday – or 7:25 p.m. ET on Wednesday. This is one of the most powerful quakes on record, according to the United States Geological Survey.

On the top 10 list of earthquakes since 1900, this event would check in at sixth. The most recent earthquake with this high of magnitude in Japan in 2011.

Around the world, ground motion from the earthquake was detected on seismographs, or instruments used to record the motion of the ground during an earthquake.

In Bloomington, Indiana, the seismograph picked up these faint waves. Indiana was 4,500 miles away from the epicenter, so we did not feel anything.

You can find more information about the earthquake by visiting our news story tab here.

NTSB: Army chopper in fatal midair crash with plane was above altitude limit

(AP) — Investigators probing the January midair collision of a passenger plane and an Army helicopter over Washington that killed 67 people found the chopper was flying higher than it should have been and its altitude readings were inaccurate.

The details came out of the first day of National Transportation Safety Board hearings in Washington, where investigators aim to uncover insights into what caused the crash between the American Airlines plane from Wichita, Kansas, and the Black Hawk helicopter over Ronald Reagan National Airport.

The board opened the three days of hearings by showing an animation and playing audio and video from the night of the collision, as well as questioning witnesses and investigators about how the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army may have contributed to nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001.

It’s likely too early for the board to identify what caused the crash.

The January incident was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the traveling public, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation.

Animation, altimeter discrepancy

The hearing opened Wednesday with a video animation showing where the helicopter and airliner were leading up to the collision. It showed how the helicopter flew above the 200 feet (61 meters) altitude limit on the helicopter route along the Potomac River before colliding with the plane.

Investigators said Wednesday the flight data recorder showed the helicopter was actually 80 feet to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) higher than the barometric altimeter the pilots relied upon showed they were flying. So the NTSB conducted tests on three other helicopters from the same unit in a flight over the same area and found similar discrepancies in their altimeters.

Dan Cooper with Sikorsky helicopters said that when the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the crash was designed in the 1970s, it used a style of altimeter that was common at the time. Newer helicopters have air data computers that didn’t exist back then that help provide more accurate altitude readings.

Chief Warrant Officer Kylene Lewis told the board that she wouldn’t find an 80 to 100 foot discrepancy between the different altimeters on a helicopter alarming because at lower altitudes she would be relying more on the radar altimeter than the barometric altimeter. Below 500 feet (152 meters), Lewis said she would be checking both instruments and cross referencing them.

She said as long as an altimeter registers an altitude within 70 feet of the published altitude before takeoff the altimeter is considered accurate under the checklists.

Army officials said a discrepancy of 70 to 100 feet (21 to 30 meters) between the Black Hawk’s altimeters is within the acceptable range because pilots are expected to maintain their altitude plus or minus 100 feet.

The greater concern is that the FAA approved routes around Reagan airport that included such small separation distances between helicopters and planes when planes are landing.

“The fact that we have less than 500 foot separation is a concern for me,” the Army’s Scott Rosengren said.

But Rosengren said that “if he was king for a day” he would immediately retire all the older Black Hawk models like the one involved in this crash and replace them with newer versions of the helicopters.

Previously, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy highlighted that the published helicopter routes around Washington D.C. would allow planes and helicopters to routinely come within 75 feet of each other during landing.

Army officials said Wednesday that the flight manual for these older Black Hawks doesn’t highlight the discrepancies in altimeters that has been documented previously, but typical flight separations are at least 500 feet (152 meters) around airports.

‘Stepped on transmission’

During the two minutes before the crash, one air traffic controller was directing airport traffic and helicopters in the area, a task that involved speaking to or receiving communications from several different aircraft, according to the NTSB’s History of Flight Performance Study.

The air traffic controller had spoken to or received communications from the Black Hawk helicopter, an airplane that was taking off, an Air Force helicopter, an airplane on the ground, a medical helicopter and an inbound flight that was not the American Airlines plane that would crash.

“All aircraft could hear the controller, but helicopters could only hear other helicopters on their frequency and airplanes only other airplanes,” the report stated. “This resulted in a number of stepped on transmissions as helicopters and airplanes were not aware when the other was communicating.”

Stepped on transmissions are those that are unheard or blocked because of other transmissions. The NTSB report provides a list of 29 separate communications between the airport tower and other aircraft during approximately the 1 minute and 57 seconds before the collision.

Previously disclosed air traffic control audio had the helicopter pilot telling the controller twice that they saw the airplane and would avoid it.

The animation ended with surveillance video showing the helicopter colliding with the plane in a fiery crash.

Investigations have already shown the FAA failed to recognize a troubling history of 85 near misses around Reagan airport in the years before the collision, and that the Army’s helicopters routinely flew around the nation’s capitol with a key piece of locating equipment, known as ADS-B Out, turned off.

Proposed changes

Even though the final NTSB report won’t be released until sometime next year, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation Tuesday to require all aircraft operators to use both forms of ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, the technology to broadcast aircraft location data to other planes and air traffic controllers. Most aircraft today are equipped with ADS-B Out equipment but the airlines would have to add the more comprehensive ADS-B In technology to their planes.

“There cannot be a double standard in aviation safety,” Cruz said. “We should not tolerate special exceptions for military training flights, operating in congested air space.”

The legislation would revoke an exemption on ADS-B transmission requests for Department of Defense aircrafts. It also would require the FAA to evaluate helicopter routes near airports and require the Army Inspector General to review the Army’s aviation safety practices.

Homendy said her agency has been recommending that move for decades after several other crashes.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that while he’d like to discuss “a few tweaks,” the legislation is “the right approach.” He also suggested that the previous administration “was asleep at the wheel” amid dozens of near-misses in the airspace around Washington’s airspace.

Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Ben Finley and Rio Yamat contributed to this story.

Crop duster shot while flying over Boone County

DOVER, Ind. (WISH) — Details shared publicly were few, but the Boone County Sheriff’s Office revealed Wednesday that a crop duster was shot Friday.

In a news release, the office said the crop duster was shot between 6-7 p.m. Friday near the intersection of state roads 32 and 75. That’s in the western Boone County unincorporated community of Dover, about a 40-minute drive northwest of downtown Indianapolis.

The pilot, who was not injured, safely landed the plane. The release did not name the pilot or the crop-dusting business.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating. They asked anyone who was in the area at the time or who may have information to call the Boone County Sheriff’s Office at 765-482-1412, option 6, and reference Case No. 25-BCSO-0365.

FEMA assistance granted to 23 Indiana counties for severe storms and tornadoes

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — President Trumped approved a major disaster declaration for 23 Indiana Counties for the severe storms and tornadoes that ripped across the state from late March and into early April.

The declaration allows for federal public assistance to be provided to 23 counties in Indiana, enabling them to repair and replace disaster-damaged facilities and conduct emergency work.

The FEMA Public Assistance Program will assist state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations, in the affected counties.

Eligible applicants must own the property or be legally responsible for its maintenance. Applicants are encouraged to contact their county Emergency Management Agency (EMA) for assistance.

FEMA staff, in collaboration with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) recovery teams, will begin meeting with public assistance applicants across the state starting Aug. 5.

Despite the approval for public assistance, the federal disaster declaration for individual assistance was denied on July 28. The IDHS is currently reviewing options to appeal this decision.

Counties approved for public assistance:

  • Bartholomew
  • Brown
  • Clark
  • Crawford
  • Decatur
  • Floyd
  • Franklin
  • Greene
  • Harrison
  • Jefferson
  • Lawrence
  • Madison
  • Marshall
  • Martin
  • Montgomery
  • Morgan
  • Orange
  • Owen
  • Perry
  • Switzerland
  • Vanderburgh
  • Warrick
  • Washington

This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and edits all content published to ensure it meets our journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.

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IMPD identifies two 19-year-olds as suspects in police shooting

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A day after a police shooting that wounded an officer, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released an update into the suspect’s condition and identified two teenagers who were involved in the carjacking that sparked the shooting.

The shooting happened during a carjacking just after 2 p.m. Tuesday near 16th and Harding streets, on the west side of Indianapolis.

Four male suspects were inside the vehicle when they were stopped by police. One person, who is still on the run, fled police while the officer tried to arrest the driver. Another passenger in the car got out and opened fire on the officer.

The officer was shot then returned fire. In the Wednesday update, IMPD says that the officer is currently recovering in the hospital.

Police also confirmed that the suspect who was shot is in critical condition.

IMPD identified the driver as Mahki Starks and one of the passengers as Malique Starks. Both are 19-years-old. Police did not say if the two are related.

Both have been arrested for resisting police.

“Meanwhile, IMPD is actively searching for the fourth suspect involved in yesterday’s critical incident. We urge this individual to safely turn himself in,” IMPD wrote in the press release.

Anyone with information into the police shooting or the suspect is urged to call 911or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 317-262-8477.

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