Update:The Marion County Prosecutor's Office on Friday said they have declined to file unlawful encroachment charges against 65-year-old Mary Nichols, saying the police report they reviewed did not indicate she interfered with a law enforcement investigation nor the medics at the scene.
"The Unlawful Encroachment statute, which is currently being challenged as unconstitutional in federal court, must be applied judiciously and deliberately to strike a balance between the right of citizens to observe law enforcement and the need for officers to execute their duties free from undue interference," the office said in a statement.
Previous coverage: Mary Nichols thought she was in the clear Monday as she stood behind the ambulance, holding up her phone recording the medics treating the man under arrest on a felony warrant.
She was aware at the time of the state’s new lawforbidding citizens from being within 25 feet of police at crime scenes. But she was near anambulance, she thought, not anyone doing police work.She thought the investigation was over.
Nichols said as much to the Lawrence police officer who asked her to step back.
“This is an ambulance, not your police car,” Nichols said, according to a law enforcement report. The 65-year-old was then placed in handcuffs and later booked on a preliminary charge of unlawful encroaching on an investigation.
Nichols is now one of the few people in Marion County facing criminal penalties over the state’s 25-foot encroachment law that went into effect July 1. The law makes it a Class C misdemeanor to knowingly or intentionally approach within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after they’ve been ordered to stop.
Controversy has surrounded the legislation since its inception, particularly because of national cases in which bystanders' cell phone recordings have brought police mistreatment of citizens to light. The law recently became the target of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a man in South Bend who routinely monitors public safety personnel for his YouTube channel. Officials with the ACLU, and now Nichols, say the law violates the public's First Amendment rights, and gives police unchecked authority to arrest people within 25 feet of them even if they’re not interfering with the investigation.
Before the law's passing, the ACLU also raised concerns that it would be used to prevent civilians from observing police officers and tamp down attempts to report excessive police force. In light of her arrest, Nichols said she now believes the same.
“I don’t think the law is made for public safety. I really believe it’s made for police to get away from the things they do,” Nichols said.
What the police report says
Nichols, a lifelong resident of the far east side of Indianapolis, said she recorded the man being treated in the ambulance that day to ensure his safety.
“I had no preconceived notions about what was going on,” she said.
Lawrence police said in the arrest report that they noticed Nichols shortly before 4 p.m. Monday on the north side of the gas station, along North Franklin Road, shortly after they served an arrest warrant on a man.
"The female continued filming from a distance of more than 25 feet," the report stated.
The man was then placed in an ambulance to be checked for a police dog bite. As paramedics treated him, investigators in the police report said they saw Nichols had moved closer, near the back of the ambulance.
"It was obvious that I wasn’t armed or anything, I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I was thinking their investigation is over, they got him in the ambulance," she said.
Lawrence police leaders said officers gave Nichols clear commands to back up. They further said news about Nichols’ arrest has been misinterpreted, as if she was jailed solely for filming police −which they say citizens have a right to do.
“All she had to do was move back and nobody would have had any issue,” said Deputy Chief Gary Woodruff. “We know that we’re being recorded everywhere we go ... nobody has an issue with that.”
Woodruff said the law's intent is to ensure a safe distance between police and citizens.
“The law says to stay back 25 feet. Nobody’s out there with a measuring stick saying ‘You’re 24 and a half feet, you’re in violation,’” he said. “The idea is to have that safe distance.”
After questioning the Lawrence officer, Nichols said the next thing she knew, she was placed in handcuffs. The police report stated she told the officer the cuffs were too tight. An officer loosened them, and Nichols then slipped the left cuff off her wrist. Police said as a result, she was preliminarily charged with escape.
Nichols will make her first court appearance Friday morning.
Other 25-foot encroachment arrests in Marion County
At least two other people in Marion County have been charged under the unlawful encroachment law since it was put on the books. IndyStar does not name typically name people charged with misdemeanors unless they give permission.
A week after the law went into effect, prosecutors charged an Indianapolis man with encroaching after they say he tried entering his vehicle while the SUV was being towed for evidence, despite orders to stop. IMPD investigators said the car had become part of an investigation when a driver fledfrom officers the day before during a traffic stop. The man told police he let his friend drive the car, and he wanted to retrieve an impact drill he left inside before the vehicle was taken away. An officer placed him under arrest after trying to pull him back from getting to the car.
Police later confirmed through camera footage that the friend was the driver, and the man’s encroachment charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Almost two weeks later, Marion County law enforcement made another arrest in the new law.
Sheriff’s deputies in an affidavit arrested a woman who they say tried to reenter a home while police served a felony warrant. An officer said the woman, who was not the subject of the warrant, kept pressing against the yellow crime scene tape to try and get closer to the house. A corporal at the scene said “it was in the best of interest of officer safety” for her to move 25 feet from himself and the caution tape. Police said she refused, and they placed her in handcuffs.
Her case is pending in Marion County Superior Court.
Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at 317-503-7514 or sarah.nelson@indystar.com