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- An Indianapolis detective was arrested for allegedly driving away from a crime scene while intoxicated.
- Colleagues reported Detective Caitlin Harris after noticing she smelled of alcohol while on call.
- Harris is the third Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer to be charged with a crime in March.
A city detective was arrested after being accused of driving away from the scene of an investigation while intoxicated, according to a news release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Detective Caitlin Harris, an eight-year veteran of the Child Abuse Unit, faces preliminary charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, both misdemeanors.
Harris was acting as the on-call detective on March 22, 2026. Colleagues who summoned her to help with an investigation into a child’s injuries that evening noticed she smelled like alcohol and contacted a supervisor, the news release stated.
A sergeant immediately responded, the department said, but by then Harris had finished her investigation and left the scene.
The sergeant asked Harris to pull her vehicle over, but she instead drove home, where she was met by a lieutenant who also believed she’d been drinking, the department said.
Harris was taken to a hospital for a blood draw. Detectives from IMPD’s Internal Affairs, Special Investigations and OVWI units were all present, the department said, and Harris was “determined to be under the influence of alcohol.”
IndyStar was unable to reach Harris and court records were not available at time of publication.
Chief Tanya Terry placed Harris on paid administrative leave and stripped her of police powers later that day.
The investigation that Harris initially responded to has been reassigned to another detective, according to the department.
Once an internal affairs investigation is complete, IMPD will decide whether to review Harris’ recent cases.
Harris was one of two detectives subject to a Citizens’ Police Complaint Board case last summer after a woman said the investigators assumed her children were unresponsive due to an opiate overdose rather than a heat-related illness. The children had been left alone in a car for several hours while their mother worked at a temp agency, but charges were never filed. IMPD’s Internal Affairs office did not find the officers at fault for their handling of the case.
Harris is the third IMPD officer charged with a crime so far in March. Officer Anthony Mauk faces allegations of hunting deer without a license in Steuben County, and Officer Taylor Jones was arrested on an allegation of battery after an altercation at an Indianapolis gym.
More: These IMPD officers have been charged with crimes since 2024
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.