The City of White police chief and a 26-year-old officer were arrested and charged with false imprisonment, extortion and violating oaths of public office Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
Police Chief David King, 58, and Officer Blake Scheff, 26, are accused of arresting individuals on fabricated charges and reducing the criminal charges to a citation to collect fines between December 2011 and April 2015, GBI spokesman Charge Greg Ramey said in a statement.
Brittny Brown was arrested March 31, 2012, in Bartow County on a charge of felony deposit account fraud, a crime that she did not commit, Ramey said. She was told about three months earlier to accept a disorderly conduct citation and pay a $1,000 fine for the crime. If she complied, authorities wouldn’t pursue felony state charges, according to a list of charges for King and Scheff.
About three years later, the family of Lois Kitchens was allegedly told the same thing. Though she was arrested in Bartow County on a charge of committing cruelty to children in the first degree, Kitchens did not commit, Ramey said.
King and Scheff were arrested after the FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at the White Police Department and White City Hall on January 21.
King and Scheff were booked into the Bartow County Jail and released on bond, Ramey said.
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