Indiana county to hire outside lawyers for sheriff's suit

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A northeastern Indiana county will hire outside attorneys to defend its sheriff in a lawsuit stemming from his altercation last year with a teenage boy during a festival.

Allen County Sheriff David Gladieux is being sued by the parents of a 15-year-old boy who was a volunteer during Fort Wayne's Three Rivers Festival last July. Their suit alleges that the sheriff 'œsmelled of alcohol'ť and pushed their son to the ground, injuring him, when the teen asked to see Gladieux's VIP pass to a restroom area.

The suit is seeking $300,000 for medical costs, emotional distress and other damages, The Journal Gazette reported.

Allen County's commissioners on Friday unanimously approved hiring a Fort Wayne law firm to represent Gladieux as an individual in the suit and a Goshen law firm to represent the sheriff in his official capacity.

Allen County Attorney William Fishering said the county attorney's office has a conflict of interest in the case, in which Gladieux is being sued both in his official capacity as sheriff and individually.