INDIANAPOLIS — The criminal justice system has allowed a 10-time convicted drunk driver to get behind the wheel again and again, WRTV Investigates has learned.
On February 19, 2020, an appointed Marion County Magistrate, Mark Renner, sentenced Patten to home detention and probation, plus a two-year driver’s license suspension and drug and alcohol testing. On February 2, 2024, a Plainfield Police officer was on routine patrol in the area of East Main Street and Plainfield Commons Drive when he observed a Kia Optima traveling south on Plainfield Commons Drive.
Patten petitions Marion County to drive in March 2024 Days later, on February 9, Patten filed a petition in Marion County Circuit Court to get specialized driving privileges. “I am going to place you on ignition interlock, just like the two hearings before you will reevaluate in six months and see how things are going,” Magistrate Sanders said on March 4. “At that time, if you’re doing well, we may be able to remove it, but I think it would be helpful for you to attend some individual counseling. I understand AA it’s not for everybody.
“I would not wish the despair I have felt by losing my sister on my worst enemy,” said Niblick. “What every victim truly wants is for no one to ever feel this way again.” “We need to try something different that is going to hit home to them that this is unacceptable,” said Niblick. We asked the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office why no one mentioned that at the March 2024 hearing in which Patten said he was sober.
Patten’s driver’s license is currently suspended until 2030 and his specialized driving privileges are revoked.