On Sept. 29, Redress South Bend reported that paint South Bend Community School Corporation bought with state money to renovate Brown School had turned up in the garage of a former district official.
The official had put their house up for sale. A visitor at the open house knew about the official’s work on the Brown renovation and noticed shelves of paint in the garage. The visitor photographed the paint cans and the product codes on them. According to a school board member, those codes matched the paint the school corporation bought with taxpayer money for the Brown renovation. The board member told Redress the paint in the garage was “definitely” the Brown School paint. Other sources confirmed the account.
A second board member said the new superintendent went to the South Bend Police Department after the board pushed for a report. The department opened case No. 26-10646.
Redress requested the report in person at the SBPD Records Bureau on Sept. 2 and filed a public records request on Sept. 3. Fifty-seven days later, Redress is still waiting for a copy of the report.
Tim Corbett, former Commander of the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit, believes he knows why.
“I absolutely feel that report was covered for political reasons,” Corbett said.
Corbett and Joe Speybroeck are the investigators the school corporation hired to look into the district. Corbett spoke with Redress South Bend on Oct. 29. Corbett spoke for himself, not for the school corporation.
The police department that holds the report answers to Mayor James Mueller, a Democrat. Days before the election, Mueller’s party has candidates up and down the Nov. 3 ballot, and Corbett believes the report may damage Mueller’s candidates.
“You got an upcoming race,” Corbett said. “You got people in that race that need votes from different members of the community, and it’s been hidden.”
Corbett confirmed that case No. 26-10646 is connected to the school corporation. He said the report was filed with SBPD and that he spoke with the person who made the report. Corbett would not name that person.
“I absolutely trust that person,” Corbett said.
Corbett said SBPD normally lists new reports on a daily bulletin. According to Corbett, this report never appeared there.
“If you’re gonna put on the bulletin things about a homicide, a sexual offense, burglaries, robberies, anything else, why would you not put that on the bulletin about paint being stolen other than to protect someone?” Corbett said.
Corbett has not seen the police report, but he expects the report to contain what his investigation with Speybroeck documented: where the paint was seen, the photographs, the product codes, and the name of the person whose garage held the paint. Corbett said he knows what the missing material is worth. He would not provide a dollar figure when asked.
“That needs to be released in the report,” Corbett said.
On Sept. 2, I went to the SBPD Records Bureau with the date, the location, and the name of the person involved. The records clerk told me, “There is no report, so there is nothing to give you.”
When Redress filed its request the next day, the clerk said requests go through the city’s legal department and requests for police reports can take “up to six months to a year.”
Corbett said the clerk may have been telling the truth if the report never reached the Records Bureau.
“Maybe that report was intercepted before it got to records,” Corbett said. “But six months to a year to produce a copy of that, which will take all of about maybe 40 seconds? You find it, you copy it, you hand it over.”
Corbett said no one from SBPD has contacted him or Speybroeck about the case. No one from the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office has either. Corbett said he understands that the prosecutor’s office does not have the case.
Corbett expects the paint case to move once the votes are counted.
“I’ll just about bet after November 3rd, this thing’ll start picking up speed, and you’ll probably get what you need because the damage has already been done,” Corbett said.
Logan Foster
Logan Foster is the founder and editor of Redress South Bend, an independent news outlet covering local government, courts, and public institutions in South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. He reports from primary documents: public records requests, court filings, state audit reports, and campaign finance disclosures. His reporting has examined city and school district payments made without competitive bidding, school board spending, and the records of candidates in county races. Redress South Bend obtained the South Bend Police Department's ShotSpotter coverage map after the department initially denied public access. The outlet is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. Reach him at info@redresssouthbend.com
