A Muncie Mall security guard has been arrested and preliminarily charged following a confrontation inside the mall in May 2026. 104.1 WLBC[1] and Woof Boom Radio News[2], crediting The Star Press, report that the 52-year-old guard faces a felony battery charge involving a minor and a misdemeanor battery charge. An initial hearing is set for September 30, 2026, in Delaware Circuit Court 1.
According to reporting on court documents, the confrontation began after two brothers were told to stop taking photos and video inside the mall. The reports describe surveillance footage that appeared to show the guard increasing his speed and shoulder checking the younger brother, causing him to stumble back several feet. The footage also reportedly appeared to show the guard grabbing the older brother, whose hands appeared to be at his sides, and pushing him until he hit a glass sliding door, knocking it off its track. Fox59 also reported on the court documents[3].
The charges are allegations and have not been proven. One of the two people involved is a minor, so this article does not include identifying information about him. Published sources do not identify the mall owner or the company employing the guard. Reports also differ on the older brother's age, and that point remains unresolved.
What should an injured person do next?
An incident involving private security is different from an incident involving police. A private security guard is an employee. Under ordinary agency principles, an employer may be responsible when an employee harms someone while acting within the scope of employment. A business may also face a separate claim based on how it hired, trained, retained, or supervised security personnel. These civil questions do not depend on the criminal charge resulting in a conviction.
If you or your child were harmed during a confrontation with private security, send written preservation requests to the property and any identifiable security company as soon as possible. Commercial surveillance systems may overwrite recordings within days or weeks. The reporting here says footage was collected, but that does not establish whether the original recording remains on the mall's system. Delventhal Law Office provides more information about preserving evidence in an Indiana injury claim.
Seek an appropriate medical evaluation and make sure the medical record accurately describes what happened. Photograph any injuries over the following days. Obtain the responding department's case number and request available court records, including the probable cause affidavit after charges are filed. A probable cause affidavit may describe what an investigating officer observed in the video, but it is not a civil finding of liability.
Try to identify who employed the guard. Security at a mall may be provided by the property owner or a separate contractor, and the answer can affect which insurance policies and responsible parties must be investigated. Record the names of other shoppers, store employees, or witnesses who may have seen the confrontation. A Fort Wayne premises liability attorney can review how property control, employment, and security arrangements may affect a potential claim.
Why location matters in an Indiana injury claim
The confrontation occurred inside a mall in Muncie, and the criminal case is in Delaware Circuit Court 1. A related civil case would ordinarily be venued in Delaware County.
Indiana premises liability law considers whether a business used reasonable care toward people invited onto its property. When the alleged harm involves a business's security staff rather than an unrelated third party, questions about the employer, any security contractor, and the scope of the guard's work may become central. The facts would still need to be established through evidence.
Indiana applies modified comparative fault under IC 34-51-2-6[4]. An injured person's recovery is reduced by that person's percentage of fault and barred if the person's fault is greater than 50 percent. Because this confrontation reportedly began with a dispute over photography, the parties may disagree about each person's conduct. Surveillance video and witness accounts may be important to resolving that dispute. You can read a plain-language explanation of Indiana's comparative-fault rule.
The general deadline for an Indiana personal injury lawsuit is two years from the injury under IC 34-11-2-4[5]. For a person under a legal disability, including a minor, IC 34-11-6-1[6] can toll the limitations period until the disability is removed. That rule does not extend an adult's deadline, and it does not stop surveillance footage or witness recollections from being lost.
If a governmental entity were involved, different notice requirements could apply: 180 days for a political subdivision under IC 34-13-3-8[7] and 270 days for the State under IC 34-13-3-6[8]. A private mall and private security contractor are not ordinarily governmental entities.
How Delventhal Law Office can help
Delventhal Law Office, LLC is a personal injury law firm in Fort Wayne, Indiana, founded by attorney Chad E. Delventhal in 2009. The firm represents people hurt by someone else's carelessness in Indiana. In a private-security case, the work may include sending preservation demands, identifying the property owner and security contractor, obtaining available court records, and evaluating potential claims against an employer and an individual.
Insurance carriers and businesses may aggressively defend claims involving disputed conduct. Careful preparation means identifying the correct parties, protecting video, collecting witness information, and documenting any injury before evidence disappears. If you or your child were harmed by security personnel, you may request a free case evaluation.
This post is based on public reporting, the investigation and court case may be ongoing, and nothing here is legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship.
