Hayleigh Colombo

hcolombo@jconline.com

Purdue University Police Chief John Cox has reopened an investigation into the detainment and treatment of a Purdue Exponent photographer following a Jan. 21 homicide on Purdue's campus.

Purdue police, Exponent photographer Michael Takeda and their lawyers will meet Wednesday to discuss what police say is new evidence that has come to light in the investigation, which started when Takeda filed a formal grievance against the department for detaining him and seizing his camera equipment and its contents. Takeda has accused the police of verbally abusing him and pushing him to the ground.

About a month after the incident, Cox released a report exonerating the police and said there was insufficient evidence to prove if either harassment or an inappropriate level of force occurred. The Exponent has requested video security footage from Purdue of the photographer's interaction with the police, but it was denied.

In an April 3 letter to Takeda, Cox asked Takeda for a written account Takeda wrote on Jan. 21 after he was released from police custody, according to Exponent Publisher Pat Kuhnle.

Cox also asked for the photos Takeda took while he was in the Electrical Engineering building, the scene of the shooting and stabbing death of undergraduate teaching assistant Andrew Boldt

Cody Cousins, a fellow engineering student of Boldt, has been charged with murder and is awaiting trial.

Cox wrote the following in the April 3 letter to Takeda:

"When I made my determinations on your complaint, the existence of your January 21 narrative was unknown to me. Since learning of your narrative, Purdue has not yet obtained a copy of it. Our department's standard practice is to re-open an investigation if we learn of additional evidence that may be material to the investigation. I need to evaluate your January 21 narrative as a freshly recorded eyewitness recollection, together with the photos you took. Pending receipt of your January 21 narrative and photos and an opportunity to discuss that evidence with you, our department will continue to show our investigation of your grievance as open."

Purdue spokeswoman Shelley Triol confirmed that the investigation has reopened.

Kuhnle said he doesn't believe either the Jan. 21 narrative written by Takeda or the photos are truly new evidence, since the basis of the statement was in the formal complaint filed by the Purdue Exponent shortly thereafter, and the photos from the camera have been and remain published on the Exponent's website.

However, he said he hopes to get some closure on the situation.

"I remain hopeful this unfortunate situation can be resolved without legal action," Kuhnle said. "We seek the truth about what happened when police confronted our photographer on Jan. 21 and thereafter when he was detained against his will for two hours. Furthermore, we seek justification for police seizing the camera equipment and its files, which appears to be a violation the federal Privacy Protection Act."