Twiggs County sheriff’s major arrested after money from evidence room goes missing
A Twiggs County sheriff’s major was arrested Tuesday, a day after he was fired, for his alleged involvement in stealing in excess of $1,500 from the Jeffersonville department’s evidence room, officials said.
William “Chip” Samuel Stokes was charged with theft and with violating his oath of office, according to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The GBI’s statement did not reveal what led the authorities to suspect Stokes, nor did it mention exactly how much cash was missing or whether the money had been recovered.
The missing money had been seized Dec. 17 in what was described as “a traffic stop where a sum of money was recovered,” the news release said. “The money was counted on video, packaged, and later secured in the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office evidence room.”
The GBI statement goes on to note that on Jan. 11, Twiggs Sheriff Darren Mitchum “was made aware that the money taken during the traffic stop could not be accounted for.”
After “several audits and searches of the evidence room,” the statement added, the money could not be found. “During the GBI investigation, it was discovered that Stokes had taken the money from ... the evidence room.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 9:30 AM.