A Georgia police chief and one of his officers were arrested after they allegedly arrested suspects for false reasons, extortion and for violating their oaths. City of White Police Chief David King and Officer Blake Scheff are the officers in questions and made up the only full-time police force the small town has.
AJC.com reports:
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.
According to AJC.com, King and Scheff arrested one woman in March 2012 for felony deposit account fraud although she didn’t commit the offense. The officers told the woman to accept a lesser charge and pay $1,000 in fines. The officers stated to her if she agreed, the felony charges would be dropped.
In 2015, another woman was arrested for committing cruelty to children in the first degree and was pushed to accept a similar deal.
The officers were arrested while on the job after an investigation by the FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The city of White is 50 miles northwest of Atlanta.
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Photo: Bartow County Sheriff’s Office
