WARSAW — A Warsaw resident is suing a Kosciusko County police officer after the officer allegedly searched through the resident’s vehicle without permission.

The plaintiff in the case is Philip Meade. The defendant in the case is listed as “Kosciusko County Police Officer.” The documents list the officer as Bumbaugh, but there are officers with that last name at Winona Lake, Syracuse and Pierceton police departments. The notification of the case was sent to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, but the county call log for the date in question lists Winona Lake Police Department Officer Joe Bumbaugh at the residence in question. The attorney in the case, Christopher Myers, Fort Wayne, could not clarify which officer was involved.

According to the court filing, on or about Nov. 19, 2017, Meade was at home when his grandchildren entered the residence and said that someone was looking at his truck. Before Meade could go outside and investigate, he heard a knock on the door. He went to the door and saw Officer Bumbaugh.

The officer identified as Bumbaugh informed Meade that he was there to serve an arrest warrant on him. The warrant had been issued Oct. 13, 2017, relating to a charge of alleged invasion of privacy.

The case, filed March 4, 2019, states that Meade cooperated in exiting his home and was placed inside Bumbaugh’s police car. Bumbaugh then went back to Meade’s truck. Meade asked the officer if he had a search warrant and was told no, saying that Bumbaugh said he “didn’t need one.”

Without any permission or consent from Meade, Officer Bumbaugh then proceeded to search through Meade’s truck twice.

Prior to Nov. 19, 2017, Meade had other encounters with Officer Bumbaugh in which Bumbaugh came onto Meade’s property, attempted to take pictures of Meade’s truck and was told by Meade to get off of his property.

Meade contends that “Defendant Bumbaugh engaged in an unlawful search of Meade’s vehicle without his permission, without a search warrant, and without any other potential legal justification to search the vehicle. The unlawful search of Meade’s truck furthermore was an unreasonable search in violation of Meade’s federally protected rights under the Fourth Amendment, and it subjected Meade to inconvenience, emotional distress and other damages and injuries.”

Meade is demanding a trial by jury in this action.