DeKalb police investigating incident with three officers

A May incident at a northeast Atlanta apartment has led to the resignation of three DeKalb County police officers.

According to DeKalb County police incident reports, one of the officers tried to kick open the apartment door where two others were watching TV.

Police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said an internal investigation involving the three former officers is ongoing and will take weeks to complete.

According to the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, an agency that certifies police officers and tracks their employment statuses, Richshanna Chadrika Rich, Janet M. Sutton and Capt. Vickie S. Logan resigned last week in lieu of termination.

The incident report, which says all the officers are friends, shows that on May 5, Rich tried to kick in the door to Sutton’s apartment.

Police said Sutton was in her northeast Atlanta apartment around 11 p.m. watching a movie with Logan when Rich began banging loudly at the door.

“After the second knock, the suspect began kicking at the door hard enough to cause the frame near the hinges to splinter,” the police report reads.

Logan, a 15-year veteran, went to a side room where she could see the front door and saw Rich kicking at the door, police said.

When Sutton answered the door, police said Rich demanded that a toolbox be returned to her, then tried to force her way into the apartment.

Sutton was able to force Rich back and close the door, but not before Rich snatched a scarf from Sutton’s head, according to police reports.

Rich then left, police said. It is unclear whether the former officers were off-duty.

Sutton had been with the department for eight years, according to records from Georgia P.O.S.T. Rich was with the department less than two years.