A 46-year-old Greenfield man accused of dragging a woman by the hair, strangling her with a broken clipboard, and threatening to kill her has pleaded guilty to two lesser felonies, avoiding a kidnapping charge that could have sent him to prison for up to 12 years. Richard Joseph Gardner will instead serve 910 days of home detention through Hancock County Community Corrections, followed by a consecutive 365-day term, after Hancock Circuit Court Judge Scott Sirk accepted the plea agreement.
The deal resolved an eight-count case stemming from a violent encounter in December 2023, according to The Daily Reporter, whose reporter Kristy Deer detailed the plea's terms. Gardner admitted guilt to Level 6 felony confinement and one count of Level 6 felony strangulation, while prosecutors dismissed five other charges, including the Level 4 felony kidnapping count and additional strangulation and battery charges. Under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-5.5, that dismissed kidnapping charge carried a statutory range of 2 to 12 years in prison with a 6-year advisory sentence and fines up to $10,000, according to Justia Law.
What the Affidavit Describes
According to the affidavit, the woman said she and Gardner fought after he came home intoxicated on December 8, 2023. The account, per the same affidavit, describes Gardner grabbing her by the hair, hitting her in the face, and repeatedly throwing her to the ground. He allegedly dragged her to the backyard, pressed the edge of a broken clipboard into her throat, and strangled her — leaving her feeling, per the report, that he was going to kill her.
The woman said she tried to gather her belongings and leave the house, but Gardner prevented her from going, according to the affidavit. She bit him during the struggle and threw his cell phone to the ground, breaking it, before she managed to escape. An Indiana State Police trooper who filed the probable cause affidavit responded to a domestic battery report on December 9, 2023, after a patrolman found the woman with bruising on her neck and face at the IU Methodist Saxony Hospital emergency room in Fishers — a facility since renamed IU Health Fishers in July 2025 following a campus expansion, according to IU Health.
From Bond to Home Detention
Gardner, who lives on the 2700 block of East County Road 625 North near Greenfield, was originally charged with Level 4 felony kidnapping with moderate injury, Level 6 felony domestic battery, Level 6 felony confinement, two counts of Level 6 felony strangulation, and three Class A misdemeanor battery counts. After his December 2023 arrest by Indiana State Police, Judge Sirk set his cash bond at $7,500 with a no-contact order and firearm restrictions, allowing him to post bond ahead of a February 2024 pre-trial conference, the outlet's earlier reporting noted.
Court records show the state later attempted to have Gardner's bond revoked, and his bond was ultimately increased, though the revocation request itself was unsuccessful. Because a Level 6 felony carries a maximum term of 2.5 years — 910 days — under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-7, Gardner's confinement sentence represents the maximum allowable term for that single count. The 365-day sentence for the strangulation charge runs consecutively, and he was also ordered to complete a batterers intervention program while under home detention through Hancock County Community Corrections, which oversees court-mandated home detention, GPS tracking, and rehabilitation programs in Greenfield as an alternative to state prison.
A Second Case Now Pending
While his domestic battery case remained open, Gardner was booked into the Hancock County Jail in June on a new obstruction of justice charge, opening a separate case in Hancock Superior Court 1. Court records indicate he attempted to threaten or communicate a threat to a witness in his first case while he was out on bond. That case now carries a Level 5 felony attempt charge, with a pre-trial conference set for October 7, 2026.
Under Indiana Code § 35-44.1-2-2, obstruction of justice involves knowingly or intentionally using threats, coercion, or false statements to induce a witness or victim to withhold or alter testimony in a criminal proceeding. A Level 5 felony conviction carries a statutory range of 1 to 6 years in prison with a 3-year advisory sentence and fines up to $10,000 under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-6. The obstruction allegations remain unproven, and Gardner's Superior Court 1 case is legally distinct from the resolved Circuit Court conviction.
A Pattern Local Prosecutors Are Watching
Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton's office has repeatedly pursued secondary felony obstruction charges against domestic violence defendants accused of contacting or intimidating victims from jail or while out on bond. Hoodline has covered a similar pattern in another Greenfield domestic battery case where a defendant faced additional obstruction charges after contacting his victim, and reported in July on a separate Hancock Circuit Court strangulation case before Judge Sirk.
The case also lands amid broader concerns about domestic violence resources statewide. The Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence recorded 83 intimate partner fatalities across Indiana in 2024, and reported in May that funding constraints have forced domestic violence programs statewide to turn away 68% of emergency shelter requests, according to TheStatehouseFile.com. Gardner's pending Superior Court case will proceed separately from the now-closed Circuit Court matter, with his next hearing scheduled for October.
