GUSTAVO A GARCIA 5/03/2025 First time cop watching in Clinton County

Frankfort Police Department
1740 W State Road 28
Frankfort IN. 46041

Chief of Police: Scott Shoemaker
sshoemaker284@frankfort-in.gov
(765) 654-4245 x 9284

Garcia’s Salary and Contact Information:
ggarcia326@frankfort-in.gov
(765) 654-4245 x 9326
2025 $77,188.00
2024 $72,535.81
2023 $21,755.89

This was my first cop watch in Clinton County, Frankfort Indiana. I started recording here because I was pulled over by an Officer Xavier Vela on 4/18/25 for allegedly going 45 mph in a 30 mph zone of this very road in this video, of which the police here use as a revenue collection and extortion spot, as we will see from the different videos in this series, in my opinion.

I had just left work that night and was making my rather long journey home, lost in my thoughts about whether or not this job was going to work out for me. While in my thoughts, on autopilot, I hadn’t realized I was exceeding the speed limit here by approximately 10 mph, so I slowed down. All on my own, mind you. Then a SUV came barreling out of a parking lot traveling at a high rate of speed behind me. Far faster than I was ever going at any time. It turned out to be Officer Vela. All of this was recorded by the way. Want to see the video? Let me know in the comments. I have no intention of publishing this video unless a sizable amount of people ask for it. It was rather boring.

Xavier Vela, badge number 330, was mostly friendly with me and not harsh at all…though he kept asking me questions that did not pertain to the traffic stop. Such as where I was going and where I was coming from. I kindly did not answer his questions. He then wrote me a ticket for 15 mph over the speed limit, which I found odd given I had not been going that fast. I didn’t argue or debate him about this and we went our separate ways. I thought about fighting the ticket, if nothing more than to make them work for it, but alas, I am a rather busy person and I admittedly exceeded the posted speed limit, so I paid it and moved on.

However, I did decide that if I happened to see more police activity, and had the time, I would express my right to watch my government and do the best I could to hold them accountable for any wrong doing if any took place. That’s exactly what brings this video series about Clinton County into fruition.

I have found multiple issues in this County. One of the first things found was that the Sheriff and his wife, Richard and Ashley Kelly, were being investigated for misappropriation of the jail commissary funds of nearly $220k, beginning in 2022, which had been allegedly going on for several years and eventually had four level 6 felony charges filed, one of which was dropped, and a court date set for April 7th or the 8th, 2025, (two stories I found contradicted one another on the date) as well as allegations of Ashley knocking boots with multiple deputies while on the clock as the jail matron and commissary manager.

At some point they were ordered to repay the funds plus the cost of the audit which totaled around $100k itself, coming to an approximate total of $330k. They were both asked to resign but neither of which did and now Richard is apparently running against Jordan Brewer for County Commissioner and Ashley plans to run for County Sheriff in place of her husband.

In this video specifically, we find Gustavo Garcia, badge number 326, had stopped someone in a Ford F-150 Raptor for an unknown reason and was let go with a warning from what we could tell. He may have received a citation but I could not confirm this. Garcia then decided to ask me questions and so, I asked him some too. He was reluctant but eventually gave in with some pressure, then hightailed it down the road, turned around and went after another person for an unknown reason that was coming towards us that did not appear to violate any traffic laws.

Garcia clearly violated Indiana Code § 9-21-1-8 on the record, of which he is required to use his emergency lights and/or sirens to be exempt from other traffic code violations. This is a common issue that many officers violate regularly all across Indiana. They are never held accountable for it. He waited to pull them over to escape me and the camera, causing me to walk several blocks just to video him releasing them from his custody. He then failed to use his turn signal properly, which is a violation of IC § 9-21-8-25, did a 3 point turn, and sat in the middle of the road for some time, apparently hesitant on driving past me. Then, after driving past me, he sat at a stop sign for a prolonged amount of time, eventually pulling away after we got close to him again.

Officer Garcia pulls people over for the very same things he himself does, believing himself and his blue-line gang members to be above the law while City Judge Matthew K Beardsley allows them to get away with their antics and most definitely is in cahoots with them in his kangaroo kourt, in my opinion. There will be other videos featuring him in the future.

source