St. John police officer resigns after shooting at off-duty Hammond officer
A St. John, Indiana police officer charged with shooting at an off-duty Hammond police officer has resigned from the force.
Officer Phillip J. Fabian, who is facing a felony charge of criminal recklessness and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, resigned from the St. John Police Department before a Monday special meeting of the Board of Safety of the Town of St. John to consider a recommendation from the police chief in reference to Fabian, according to St. John Police.
Meantime, Fabian is due in court next week for an initial hearing on his charges.
In November, we heard different versions of the same story from two different police departments in Northwest Indiana.
On Nov. 29 at 2:30 a.m., St. John police said Fabian was checking on an abandoned car near 93rd and Cline. At the time, police said a car drove toward Fabian and almost hit him.
At the time, police said Fabian feared for his life and fired several shots at the car, before going after the driver and taking him into custody.
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said at the time that the driver of the vehicle was in fact an off-duty Hammond police officer who was in his own personal car heading home, and he insisted the officer did nothing wrong.
According to McDermott, his officer maneuvered his vehicle to the other side of the road to give the St. John police officer space during the traffic stop. He called the St. John police account of the incident "outrageous," calling Fabian "a danger to society" who doesn't "deserve to wear a badge."
Both officers walked away from the incident unscathed, with no injuries reported.
Last week, St. John police announced Fabian had been charged with criminal recklessness criminal mischief in connection with the shooting.
McDermott was glad to see it. He said the Hammond police officer who was involved in the incident is a 13-year veteran of the department.
"I know him personally," Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. "He's excellent. He didn't deserve to be treated this way. He didn't deserve to be cuffed in the back of a St. John police car for two hours, even after identifying himself as a Hammond police officer. It's not right what's happening and I'm glad the Lake County prosecutor's moving forward. I think it's totally appropriate."
He added the incident "shook our officer up."
St. John's police chief did not take questions on the case, but he called what happened on Nov. 29 "unfortunate."
CBS 2 was told there is body camera of the incident. The mayor of Hammond said he had not personally seen the video but "I've been told it's shocking."