South Bend Tribune
SOUTH BEND — Two St. Joseph County police officers are in the process of being fired from the department after officials say they lied about facts related to a fatal February crash that also left a teen girl partially paralyzed.
St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman filed paperwork Friday with the county police merit board requesting the termination of Brad Bauters and James Hart, both corporals. In a statement, the county police department said the officers “intentionally omitted” details about whether a North Liberty man was inebriated at a car crash on the afternoon of Feb. 5.
Hours later, the same man, Stephen Stopczynski, caused a second crash in which he crossed the median and collided head-on with a car driving the other way. The crash killed Stopczynski, 32, who was drunk at the time, and injured six passengers in a separate car, including a 13-year-old girl, who was airlifted to Riley Children’s hospital with a serious spinal injury.