Indiana State Police arrested Hancock County sheriff’s deputy James Heneghan and charged him with 220 counts each of official misconduct and fraud, plus one count of intimidation, authorities said. Court documents and investigators say the charges stem from thousands of searches Heneghan conducted using Flock license-plate cameras that, they allege, were aimed at people he knew rather than for legitimate law enforcement purposes.
According to court records, between December 2024 and March 2026 Heneghan ran more than 6,190 searches of Flock camera data, but only about 40 of those searches were performed while he was on duty. Investigators allege he searched his wife’s vehicle more than 1,100 times and also ran searches on a man who knew his wife more than 1,100 times. Court documents say he queried a former high-school girlfriend’s vehicle more than 200 times and searched the husband of an ex-girlfriend as well.
Investigators further allege Heneghan searched the vehicle of a former girlfriend’s daughter nine times and then used the location information from those searches to find and pull her over in a traffic stop. They say he entered false justifications for many of the queries — including entries such as “OWI arrest” or “police investigation” — even though investigators found no legitimate law-enforcement reason recorded in the documents.
Heneghan was taken into custody by Indiana State Police and has been placed on administrative leave. The Hancock County sheriff’s office is considering his termination, the agency said. The criminal counts and the search activity described in the court documents are alleged; the charges will be resolved in court.
