Six Lafayette Theft Cases Now Linked to Sen. Ron Alting. Senate Leaders Still Won't Say Whether He Keeps His Gavel.

State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, in a February 2018 photo from then-Gov. Eric Holcomb's office. (Photo: Office of Gov. Eric Holcomb via Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Three plain questions went to the men who run the Indiana Senate this week. Should Sen. Ron Alting resign? Should he keep chairing the Senate's public policy committee? And what happens if he wins on Nov. 3? Neither the current Senate leader nor the incoming one answered any of them, IndyStar reported Friday.

The silence got harder to defend Friday afternoon. The Lafayette Journal & Courier reported that Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker, the special prosecutor now handling the matter, will look at six different Lafayette shoplifting incidents allegedly linked to the Lafayette Republican. The court order appointing her refers to “possible crimes committed in Tippecanoe County further described in” four separate Lafayette police case numbers.

No charges have been filed. Becker said in a statement earlier this week that once she receives the full investigation she will review it “for possible charges; however, no formal charges have been filed at this time,” according to InkFreeNews, which carried the Journal & Courier’s reporting. She told WVPE and WFYI there is no clear timeline.

From two Walmarts to six cases

The story broke Oct. 7, when the Journal & Courier reported, citing a source knowledgeable about both incidents, that Alting was accused of shoplifting at Lafayette’s east-side Walmart on Sept. 22 and at the Monticello Walmart on Oct. 1. Alting’s main residence is in Monticello, according to the paper. IndyStar carried the same report.

Lafayette police have not named anyone. Sgt. Nathan Stoneking said an officer was sent to the Commerce Drive store at 4:28 p.m. on Sept. 22. “Store loss prevention personnel reported that a male and female suspect were briefly stopped by store security before fleeing the area in a green pickup truck prior to officers’ arrival,” he said. “Following a preliminary investigation, officers gathered evidence confirming a theft occurred and have identified two persons of interest.” Those results went to the Tippecanoe County prosecutor’s office, which then asked for a special prosecutor.

Monticello has been less forthcoming. Police there would not give any details about the Oct. 1 call despite several requests, and would not release the department’s daily log of calls, a record state law says must be public within 24 hours, the paper reported. A Walmart spokeswoman declined to comment and deferred to law enforcement.

What Alting has said

Alting, 70, has not addressed the specific allegations. In a statement released Oct. 7, reported in full by WLFI, he described a health problem and accepted blame in general terms.

“I have been experiencing concerning changes in my judgment and cognitive functioning. Those changes have become serious enough that I have sought medical help and am now undergoing further evaluation, testing and treatment,” he said. “During this time, I did things that were wrong and completely out of character for me. I take responsibility for my actions and apologize to my family, my constituents and the store employees involved.”

He said he is “stepping back from actively campaigning” while he gets treatment, and asked for privacy for his family. If his account is accurate, that is a hard thing for any family, and Hoosiers can wish him well and still expect straight answers from the people in charge of the chamber he serves in.

A wait-and-see Statehouse

Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, who is set to be sworn in as Senate president pro tempore in November, called the allegations “troubling” and said they “should be taken seriously.” “Accountability is critical to preserving the public’s trust in those who serve in elected office,” Garten said in a statement to IndyStar. He also said he was concerned for Alting and his family.

That is the right sentence. It is also where Garten stopped. A spokesperson for the current pro tem, Sen. Rodric Bray, said Bray won’t comment because there is a pending legal matter, IndyStar reported. That reasoning covers whether Alting should be charged, which is a prosecutor’s call. It does not cover who chairs a Senate committee, which is entirely the Senate’s call.

Back home, the party is just as stuck. Tippecanoe County Republican Chairman Tracy Brown told WFYI it is too late to take Alting off the ballot. Brown said he hasn’t spoken to Alting, and that if Alting wins and then steps down, local Republican leaders in the district would fill the seat. “Local elected officials or members of the GOP don’t get to do anything other than vote right now,” he said.

Democrat Natasha Baker of Battleground, Alting’s opponent in District 22, has kept her public comments gentle. “I wish Senator Alting and his family well as they navigate these difficult times and the next chapter in their lives,” she said in a statement, adding that residents will soon vote on “what kind of future we want for District 22.”

Where that leaves District 22 voters

Early voting is already open. District 22 voters are being asked to decide on a senator who first won the seat in 1998 and who has stopped campaigning, while a special prosecutor reviews four police case numbers and Senate leadership declines to say what it would do with him when lawmakers return.

The party machinery has an answer for after the election: if he wins and leaves, insiders pick the replacement. Voters get no such fallback. Their only chance to weigh in is the ballot they are filling out right now, and the leaders who could tell them where things stand have so far chosen not to.

Written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers.