Former Deputy Chief Sued for Negligence by Utica, IN, Fire Chiefs
HARRISON COUNTY — A former deputy chief of Utica Fire & Rescue is being sued for defamation and negligence by the current leadership of the volunteer fire department.
A complaint was filed on April 2 in Harrison County court against Corydon resident Shawn Bostock and his project Journalism with Integrity, also known as Integrity and Accountability with Shawn Bostock. It is a Facebook page that was created on Jan. 30, 2024, by Bostock.
The description of the page states that it “is dedicated to ridding Southern Indiana of political corruption.”
Utica Fire & Rescue Chief Joe Jarles and Deputy Chief Eric Brown, Jarles’ son, filed the complaint against Bostock.
In the complaint, it states Bostock previously served as a volunteer fireman reporting to Jarles. The next line of the complaint states that Bostock wants to serve as the chief of the department, although there’s no reference to any information where Bostock said that.
It states that Bostock published “false statements” regarding Brown and Jarles on his Facebook page on March 26 in a post where he alleges that the plaintiffs are under criminal investigation, and are engaged in “unlawful or inappropriate activity in their profession.”
In the post, Bostock alleges from his own experience that the department was not filing the appropriate paperwork to indicate a conflict of interest regarding the purchase of department equipment, among other issues. He also posted the letter he sent tendering his resignation, which states that he has been “very uncomfortable with the spending.”
At the time of the creation of the department a year ago, Bostock was the deputy chief of logistics and supply.
“Shawn has got an incredible talent for knowing people,” Jarles said at the department open house event held in July 2025. “He knows everybody and he’s not afraid to ask.”
Bostock at that point had been critical of the previous leadership of the Utica Township Fire Protection District Board and fire department, which was essentially operated by former Clark County Sheriff and convicted criminal Jamey Noel.
At the Clark County Commissioners meeting on March 26, Bostock spoke during the public comment section.
Bostock said he is a former assistant chief at Utica Fire & Rescue. He said in January, he resigned from the position after he saw “concerning things when it came to finances.”
He said he made a records request asking if there were any conflict of interest forms filed by any fire board member or firefighter, and he said he was told “no.”
He further said that “unfortunately,” the department was apparently purchasing equipment from those associated with the department, which he said would require conflict of interest forms. Bostock said they were not “plain Jane purchases,” but premium purchases.
He said he also noticed some purchases with outside entities that are “extremely close to the command structure.”
Bostock said his request for proposals were “thrown out” in order to do business with friends, specifically with the fire gear.
The complaint alleges three counts, including a count of negligence, defamation and defamation per se.
It argues that the plaintiffs are entitled to a “money judgement” against Bostock in an amount to be determined at trial.
According to a post from Bostock’s page on Thursday, he said he is aware of the lawsuit, and is confident about proving his side. He also said he would take a leave of absence from the page to focus on the lawsuit.
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