05312017 - News Article - Buncich names new chief to replace co-defendant

Buncich names new chief to replace co-defendant
NWI Times
May 31, 2017
nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/buncich-names-new-chief-to-replace-co-defendant/article_31ac8e3e-d1ad-52de-a27e-edaa83f0f58d.html

Lake County Sheriff John Buncich on Wednesday named a veteran officer to fill a position left vacant since the sheriff's second-in-command pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Buncich in a federal bribery case.

Matt Eaton, who has served as commander of the Sheriff's Department's Criminal Investigations Division since 2013, will become chief of police Thursday, according to a news release.

Timothy Downs resigned from the department in December, after pleading guilty to federal charges alleging he collected towing firm kickbacks. Downs has agreed to testify he took the kickbacks under Buncich's orders, according to court records.

Eaton joined the department in 1995, graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1997, the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in 2012 and is currently studying security management at American Military University.


Buncich, Downs and William “Willie” Szarmach, operator of CSA Towing of Lake Station, were named in an indictment filed in November in U.S. District Court in Hammond. The U.S. attorney's office filed a superseding indictment in April charging Buncich with two additional wire fraud counts.

Both Buncich and Szarmach have pleaded not guilty. Buncich's attorney, Bryan M. Truitt, has said the sheriff believes he's innocent and is looking forward to proving it at trial.

The FBI raided the sheriff's home and office Nov. 10 and seized large numbers of documents. The government has disclosed it has hundreds of photographs and recordings made during months of federal surveillance of the sheriff.

The trial is scheduled to start Aug. 7.