About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2019)
GBNET Continued from Page 1 John Powell spent two hours testify ing last Wednesday. Testifying on Friday were Glynn County Sheriffs Dept, deputy Mike Lawson, GBI Agent James Feller, and Hope Cassada, wife of former officer James Cassada. Chief Powell was questioned at length by District Attorney Jackie Johnson and public defender Stephen Tillman. Powell testified that he authorized now County Police Chief of Staff Brian Scott to conduct an internal af fairs investigation into the allegations against Cassada during the first week of February 2019 for policy violations. Powell said he opened he investiga tion when he first heard about the al legations in February 2019. Powell also called in the GBI to investigate for potential criminal activity. Powell said if policy is violated then he can make recommendations for disciplinary action which can be appealed to the county’s human re sources department and reviewed by County Manager Alan Ours. “I did not discuss the case with Mr. Ours, but I did make him aware of it,” Powell said. Powell also said he had no knowl edge of Cassada’s stay in a rehab facil ity other than he was either on leave or on vacation for almost two months from Dec. 4, 2017 to Jan. 26, 2018. Powell agreed he signed Cassada’s time sheets that were turned in dur ing the period he was out. These were also approved by Glynn County Police Department (GCPD) Capt. Eugene Smith, Powell said. Powell said policy dictates a doc tor’s excuse is needed for more than three days sick leave. However he said he did not inquire as to why Cas sada was out. He also said Cassada’s file should have been documented, but he did not know why there were no re cords in the file. Powell testified that he knew noth ing until after Feb. 1, 2019 regarding officer Simpson’s friendship with Bri an Highsmith, a drug felon. Johnson pointed out that former GCPD officer Terry Wright contacted Brian Scott and told him that High smith wanted to live with Simpson and that his parole officer had said no. According to Johnson, Simpson called the federal probation officer and wanted to know why Highsmith couldn’t live with him. Powell said he knew nothing about the situation until recently when he did discipline Simpson. According to a press release from Chief Powell, “Officer Simpson has been re-assigned to the Glynn County Patrol Division and has been issued a letter of reprimand in accordance with Glynn County Personnel Policy and progressive discipline (Officer Simp son does not have a history of disci plinary issues).” On the issue of GCPD officers working unauthorized in other coun ties: Powell said he met with Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor in August 2018 about GCPD officers working in Camden without the local authority’s knowledge. Powell said he never received a letter from Sheriff Proctor about the matter. He also said no specific GCPD officers were named during the meet ing and that no investigation was con ducted of this activity. Powell said he did tell the GBNET officers not go into adjoining counties but, he said, it did not rise to the level of an internal affairs investigation. Next came the matter of GCPD stopping McIntosh Deputy Danny Lowe twice in one hour. Johnson termed this a retaliatory action for an incident in McIntosh County with GBNET officers that up set the GBNET officers. According to Johnson GCPD offi cers stopped Lowe the first time and let him go. The second time, she said, GCPD stopped Lowe, performed a field sobri ety test and searched his car and kept him stopped for about 30 minutes. Johnson said there were multiple units, including unmarked units, on the scene and asked if any GBNET of ficers involved. Powell did not know if any GBNET officers were involved. He said he looked at video from his officers’ body cameras and determined the stop was legitimate and that there were no policy violations. No investigation was conducted. Johnson said that McIntosh County had a difficult time getting the records relating to the stop and had to hire a lawyer to get them. “McIntosh wanted the radio traf fic,” Johnson said. “That would tell them who was on the scene. Why can’t they get the information?” she asked Powell. Powell said that the informa tion had been provided to McIntosh County. Next Johnson brought up the Feb ruary 2018 car chase on 1-95 which re sulted in the death of a passenger in the car. According to Johnson GBNET offi cers gave $1,000 of GCPD money to a Cl to purchase drugs. The officers fol lowed the Cl through Camden County and Nassau County, Fla. where the buy took place. The officers followed the car back from Nassau through Camden and ra dioed GCPD officer Kevin Yarborough to stop the car carrying the drugs. Yarborough did contact his supervi sor to advise that he was chasing a car thought to be carrying drugs. During the chase the Georgia State Patrol performed a PIT maneuver, the car flipped over and the passenger died. Powell was asked, ‘What were your officers doing in Fernandina Beach: Why was there no internal investigation?” Johnson showed Powell a Feb. 28, 2018 press release from Brian Scott stating GBNET had received credible information about the purchase and distribution of illegal drugs and that agents conducted surveillance on the two as they traveled to a location in Florida. “Sheriff Proctor had already com plained to you,” Johnson said. “Yet you did not contact the Camden Sher iffs office as you watched the meth (methamphetamine) travel through Nassau and Camden back to Glynn.” “You had to get those drugs back to Glynn. You used $1,000 of Glynn County money to get them,” Johnson said. “Your officers had zero jurisdiction and somebody is dead,” she said. Johnson then asked Chief Powell how much the Glynn County Police budget was to which he replied about $12 million. “How much does it cost the county to house prisoners on bad GBNET charges?” Johnson asked. “I’m sure a lot,” Powell responded. Then he said, “I do know what is going on in the police department and the responsibility does rest with me.” Friday’s testimony brought more details. Mike Lawson, a Glynn County Sheriffs Deputy is also assigned to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as a task force officer. While Lawson was with the April 8, 2019, The Islander, Page 5 GCPD he was assigned to GBNET and worked with Capt. Ray Starling and Capt. Terry Wright, both former GCPD officers. Lawson was asked about some of the policies followed by GBNET offi cers. These include: never meet with a Cl alone; never develop a personal relationship with a Cl; document the money spent; search the Cl’s person and car before and after using them in a narcotic transaction. He also explained that Georgia dep uties can assist in other counties but that the local law enforcement agen cy is contacted and is made aware of what is going on. “Problems can arise if the local agency doesn’t know you are there.” GBNET officers are not deputized to work in other Georgia counties. Lawson agreed if GBNET officers are working outside Glynn County they have no jurisdiction. “They are just like anybody else buying drugs unless Turn to Page 11 GBNET HARTRIDGEiREALTY Connecting with Community Give where you live Terri Hartridge Owner/Broker 912-258-1004 Call/Text terri@hartridgerealty.com We Donate 25% of our Commission to a Charity of Our Clients’ Choice A full service local real estate company founded on honesty & integrity. villi Trace Hartridge Owner/Agent 912-223-3740 Call/Text trace@hartridgerealty.com What A Transformation! 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