Off duty Michigan City officer working casino security assaulted-suspect charged
MICHIGAN CITY IN Aug 11 2018 — A Michigan City Police officer working security was battered by an apparently intoxicated nightclub patron who had to be hit with a Taser on Saturday night at Blue Chip Casino.
Detective Marty Corley, who also serves on the Michigan City School Board, was off-duty and working casino security when he was called about an unruly intoxicated patron in the lobby near the It’s Vegas Baby restaurant.
After causing a disturbance and being asked to leave the casino area, 31-year-old Matthew Scott Hornbeck of Remington, Indiana, was asked if he was a hotel guest. He said he was, but refused to go to his room, and when the register was checked, it was learned he was not a guest, according to a police report.
After multiple attempts to calm him and get him to leave the premises, Hornbeck began yelling at casino staff, and Corley tried to arrest him for trespassing, police said.
However, Hornbeck refused to allow himself to be cuffed, and then turned around and punched Corley in the face with a closed fist, according to the report. He attempted more punches, but all missed.
Other officers at the scene and attempted to subdue Hornbeck, but he lunged at Corley, grabbing the officer by the waist in what appeared to have been an attempt to gain access to his firearm, Corley said in the report.
The assisting officers eventually got Hornbeck to the ground, but he continued to resist, and was finally shot with a Taser and handcuffed, according to police.
Hornbeck was transported to the Michigan City Police Department and charged with felony battery to a police officer, misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to police.
Police later spoke to Hornbeck’s girlfriend who said he has a violent personality when drinking – “like Jekyll and Hyde,” the report said. At the station, he was “very apologetic and cooperative” and told police he takes medication for a “bipolar disorder.”
He was released from the La Porte County Jail on Monday after posting a $750 cash bond. He is scheduled for a hearing in La Porte Superior Court 4 on Sept. 4.
Corley suffered only minor injuries in the incident.
