The Indiana Department of Transportation said U.S. 24 closed four miles west of Fort Wayne.A veteran Indiana State Police trooper resigned Friday after being questioned in an internal investigation into deferral checks missing from the trooper’s post, a state police spokesman said Monday.
Dallard Tackett, 58, a lieutenant, was commander of the state police post along the Indiana Toll Road in Elkhart County. The Toll Road post oversees the seven counties along the northern border of the state, including LaGrange and Steuben.
State police employees noticed missing deferral checks Thursday, prompting an investigation that led to questioning Tackett. The checks are money garnered from fines, according to a written statement from state police.
Investigators believe Tackett cashed the checks from his post for personal use instead of sending them to Indiana State Police headquarters in Indianapolis, the statement said.
After being processed at headquarters, the checks are typically sent back to their original counties and the money is distributed by the prosecutor’s office.
The money then goes to local law enforcement agencies, sometimes including state police, to buy equipment and train law enforcement officers, the statement said.
On Friday morning, Tackett was questioned as part of the state police internal investigation. He resigned Friday afternoon after serving 31 years with the state police, the statement said.
Tackett has not been charged with any crimes. State police said their investigation could take several weeks to complete.
At least three counties in the Toll Road post’s jurisdiction are believed to have had checks missing. Sgt. Trent Smith, a spokesman for the state police post in Bremen, declined to identify the three counties Monday.
Smith said 1st Sgt. Keith Kopinski will serve as acting lieutenant for the Toll Road post.
State police officials are expected to begin a search for a new lieutenant, including taking internal applications in the near future.
