FIRED POLICE OFFICER INDICTED ON ROBBERY, DRUG CHARGES

One day after he was fired, a former Jefferson County police officer was
indicted yesterday on charges that he took money from the wallets of six
Hispanic men in Jeffersontown this summer.

Scott D. Shearer, 31, is charged with six counts of first-degree robbery
and one count of obtaining or attempting to obtain a controlled substance
by fraud or deceit.

After the grand jury handed up its indictment, prosecutors asked a judge to
issue a warrant for Shearer's arrest and to set his bond at $35,000 cash.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman agreed to both requests.
Shearer can post either $35,000 in cash or $70,000 in property, said
prosecutor Allan Cobb. Shearer was released on his own recognizance in
August, when he was first charged with the robbery offenses.

Cobb said a $35,000 bond was more appropriate for someone facing six counts
of robbery. "He shouldn't be treated any differently because he was a
police officer," Cobb said.

Jefferson County police fired Shearer on Wednesday after an internal
investigation found he violated the department's "truthfulness" policy,
Chief William Carcara has said. The violations stem from statements Shearer
made during the internal investigation, Carcara said. Maury Kommor,
Shearer's lawyer, said the indictment was "just another mountain to climb,
and Mr. Shearer is fully prepared to do whatever he can to exonerate himself."

Shearer wasn't charged with the drug offense until yesterday.

Cobb said that Shearer is accused of fraudulently obtaining prescription
medications during a hospital visit in June. He was unable to provide details.

Kommor said the drug offense was a minor charge unrelated to the others. He
declined to give details.

Shearer is accused of taking cash from four Hispanic men he confronted Aug.
8 at the Red Carpet Inn on Hurstbourne Parkway. A clerk contacted the men's
employer after the officer asked her for their room number but told her not
to tell anyone, Jeffersontown police said.

A week later, Shearer was jailed again, accused of robbing two other people
in July. A criminal complaint signed by a Jeffersontown police sergeant
accused Shearer of stealing money from the wallets of two Hispanic men he
stopped at the Pine Club Apartments on July 12 and July 30.

The FBI has begun an inquiry, and its report will be reviewed by the
Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.