Former St. Martinville police officer Codi Dodge was indicted last week in federal court here on seven counts of violations of various federal laws relating to his actions while employed by the city.
The indictment was unsealed on Dec. 19 and is related to two separate arrests executed by Dodge, 34, in 2016, when he was employed as deputy chief of investigations for the St. Martinville Police Department.
The case against Dodge is being handled in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division before Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna.
The seven counts in the indictment include:
•On Jan. 7, 2016, Dodge kicked an individual without legal justification, resulting in bodily injury.
•On Aug. 13, 2016, assaulted another individual without legal justification, resulting in bodily injury.
•From about Jan. 7, 2016 through about July 2017, Dodge conspired with “other people and other SMPD officers” to engage in misleading conduct and “persuade other people” with the intent to hinder a federal investigation into the first two counts. According to the indictment, the acts including submitting false statements, attempting to destroy evidence on a cell phone seized in the arrest by submerging the phone in water, removing and discarding the battery and SIM card.
This count also alleges that Dodge and one SMPD officer agreed that they would withhold information about the arrest from the FBI and pressured another SMPD officer to also withhold information, and made false statements to FBI agents.
•On Feb. 22, 2016, Dodge knowingly falsified and made a false entry in a record relating to the Jan. 7, 2016 arrest saying that he had kicked the suspect in the “brachial plexus” in order to control the suspect for handcuffing while in fact, the defendant was kicked in the face and the action was not necessary in order to gain control of the suspect.
•Dodge knowingly falsified a record relating to the Aug. 13, 2016 arrest stating that he had pursued the suspect into the suspect’s house while the suspect was fleeing from officers and that officers used force on the suspect because he was resisting arrest when, in fact, Dodge had no lawful reason to enter the suspect’s house and no justification to assault the suspect.
•Dodge, between Aug. 13 and September 2016 persuaded a third person and tried to persuade another SMPD officer to make false and misleading statements to FBI agents.
•Took similar action regarding the cell phone belonging to the suspect involved in the Aug. 13, 2016 incident.
Dodge pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment and was released into the custody of Shani Dodge under a $100,000 unsecured appearance bond. His travel was restricted to within the state, he was ordered to avoid contact with any of the victims and witnesses in the cases, was prohibited from possessing a firearm or other weapons and his access to the internet was limited to business purposes only.