NEW PALESTINE — No criminal charges will be filed in the investigation of the late town manager Dave Book, Prosecutor Brent Eaton said.
Book, who was accused by town officials of using town facilities and town employees to make thousands of dollars through a side business without leaders’ knowledge, was fired by the town council in March 2020. He died in July 2020.
Eaton would not go so far as to clear Book of wrongdoing, but he said pursuing criminal charges against a person who has died would be fruitless and is something his office will not do.
“The state of Indiana can’t prosecute someone who is deceased,” Eaton said. “We’re not going to burn up (Indiana) State Police time on someone we can’t file anything on.”
Book, who oversaw the town’s wastewater treatment plant, was operating his own wastewater treatment business for years through the town’s operations using town employees, who he paid on the side, records showed. Book said around the time he was being fired that the town council had signed off on the arrangement years earlier, but no record could be found to support that.
Town officials seized paperwork from Book’s office in early 2020 and turned it over to the town’s attorney at the time, Gregg Morelock. He eventually turned the paperwork over to the state police.
Detectives had been looking into the case for several months and told Eaton it had reached a point where they could go no further with their investigation.
“Back in the fall when this was bubbling, we got to a place where ISP said they may or may not have a case,” Eaton said. “If we did move forward with a case, the defendant is dead, so the most efficient use of our resources is not to figure out if we had a case we couldn’t do anything with.”
Eaton noted he asked state police officials to send all the files associated with the case to the Indiana attorney general’s office so they can see if any funds that should have gone to the town all those years could be recouped.
“In this instance, this is a way we can move the ball forward, but in lanes that are outside of what we can do in this office,” Eaton said.
Eaton also suggested if town officials are not pleased with his office’s decision, they can always move forward with a civil case against the Book estate.
Town officials expressed disappointment in the prosecutor’s decision. Council member Angie Fahrnow said other people associated with Book should have been interviewed and held accountable if the evidence warranted.
“They just looked at Book and what he did when there are more people in play here…” Fahrnow said. “The town was being drained of money, and Dave Book was not the only player.”
Fahrnow is referring to former and current town employees and other businesses who Book paid as part of his side operation. However, it is not known if those people were even aware Book’s activities might be suspect. Several town employees involved in helping Book told town officials Book approached them and asked if they’d like to make some extra money, to which the town employees said “yes.”
Council president Bill Niemier said while he’s pleased the town was able to uncover Book’s side operation and terminate him, he could not comment on a case that might end up in a civil court.
Fahrnow, however, said she feels strongly about holding people accountable and recouping money Book pocketed for decades while running the side business. That money should have been going to the town, both Niemier and Fahrnow have said.
The town is planning to conduct an audit on the town’s wastewater accounts. Fahrnow said that could provide the answers they’re looking for surrounding any potential civil litigation.
