Bartow 911 operator arrested

A Bartow County 911 dispatcher was arrested by the GBI Wednesday night for allegedly providing tag information to non-law enforcement personnel.

Terri Hartness, 26, was charged with computer theft, GBI spokesman John Bankhead told the AJC Friday morning.

Bankhead said Calhoun police, while investigating an arson and burglary at an automobile detailing  shop, learned that Hartness was providing tag information to Timothy Keown, a suspect in the auto shop fire.

Keown, who was already jailed for arson and burglary, was also charged with computer theft.

Hartness and Keown, 24,  "had developed some sort of relationship and he had convinced her to provide tag information," Bankhead said. "That information can only be for specific law enforcement purposes."

He said the officials at the Georgia Crime Information Center, which supplies tag information to law enforcement agencies, were able to verify that the requests came from Hartness's computer terminal, and she was arrested late Wednesday.

The Cartersville Daily Tribune reported that Harkness, who was hired in 2006, has been fired.

Authorities have not said what Keown planned to do with the tag information.