An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer with a decade of service under his belt has been placed on administrative duty following misdemeanor charges related to going full outlaw over whitetails in northern Indiana last season.
Aaron Mauk, a 10-year veteran of IMPD is now staring down a quartet of misdemeanor counts in Steuben County for rawdogging licensing requirements and shooting a trio of deer in the process.
According to IMPD and multiple reports, the probe began on the evening of January 3rd of this year when conservation officers interviewed Mauk at his home in Fishers, Indiana. A follow-up interview that took place about a week later produced a full confession from the beleaguered cop, during which he admitted to killing the deer during the 2025 hunting season—without possessing the required state hunting license.
Earlier this month, the Steuben County Prosecutor's Office formally filed the charges which included three counts of unlawful taking of a deer and one count of providing false information to a check station.
Rather than utilizing the very tools this officer uses on other lawbreakers, Mauk was issued a summons by mail rather than being arrested publicly. IMPD’s Chief officially placed him on administrative duty last week after learning of the formal charges. The department's statement is one of standard protocol, indicating that Mauk has been stripped of police powers pending a thorough review, with IMPD's Internal Affairs division and investigations unit opening separate administrative inquiries.
"IMPD takes these allegations seriously and is committed to a full and transparent review of the facts," the department said in a released statement.
No details have been released regarding whether Mauk is on paid or unpaid administrative leave. Mauk's defense attorney has also been mum on the issue and has not responded to requests for comment from media outlets covering the story.
In a saner timeline, incidents like this might have never made local or national news coverage. But in a world where the façade behind many of our institutions seems to be deteriorating by the minute, if you wear a badge (or hold any other title for that matter), perhaps it’s as good a time as ever to be a good steward of what it stands for.
