Indiana House candidate ticketed for leaving scene after knocking over lamppost in campaign RV

Jim Schenke’s campaign RV, already at the center of an Election Board dispute, was back in the news after candidate accused of knocking over lamp post in crowded West Lafayette Village, taking off

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CANDIDATE TICKETED FOR LEAVING SCENE AFTER KNOCKING OVER LAMPPOST IN CAMPAIGN RV

Jim Schenke, a Republican candidate for Indiana House District 26, tried to squeeze his campaign RV into a tight, no-outlet section of West Lafayette Village’s South Street Saturday, backing into and knocking over a lamp post before leaving the scene Saturday afternoon, witnesses said.

Schenke was given a summons for leaving the scene of a property damage crash and released Saturday evening, after West Lafayette police found him hours after the incident, Adam Ferguson, captain of patrol for WLPD, said Sunday.

Witnesses say Jim Schenke, a Republican running for the Indiana House District 26 seat, backed into a lamp post on South Street in West Lafayette Saturday afternoon, before leaving the scene. (Photo courtesy of Randy Studt)

Ferguson said police caught up with Schenke Saturday evening when he called WLPD to report that one of his campaign signs had been damaged.

Pictures started flying around social media Saturday afternoon after witnesses saw Schenke snap the decorative Duke Energy light pole as he tried to maneuver the 32-foot RV on the one-way street so he could get out.

Randy Studt, a West Lafayette teacher, was at a window seat at Vienna Espresso Bar and Bakery grading papers when Schenke tried to make the turn as crowds started to arrive for the city’s Global Fest along the neighboring Northwestern Avenue.

“It was like, this ought to be good,” Studt said. “This place was packed, and everyone just watched it happen.”

Studt said that when the RV backed into the lamp post, Schenke got out, unsuccessfully tried to stand it back up before moving the pole onto a sidewalk, getting back in the vehicle and eventually leaving the broken bits and glass behind.

When asked about witness accounts about what happened and why he left, Schenke said Saturday night that “I doubt they match the narrative you just conveyed to me.”