Woman charged with embezzling $250K

RINGGOLD — A Murray County woman was arrested Tuesday after a four-month investigation revealed that she allegedly embezzled more than a quarter-million dollars from her Ringgold employer over several years.

According to the Ringgold Police Department, 42-year-old Judy Michelle Hicks was arrested on charges of theft by taking over $25,000, first-degree forgery, and unauthorized use of financial transaction cards.

Hicks’ husband, 41-year-old James Christopher Hicks, was also arrested on a charge of party to a crime for his knowledge of and benefit from his wife’s crimes. Both have been released from jail on bond.

Detective Anthony Gregory said the investigation began in the fall when the owner of Happy Feet International, a flooring company in Ringgold, discovered that his bookkeeper, Hicks, had been stealing money for personal use.

“It all went back a while,” Gregory said. “She worked there for six years, but it’s mainly been the past three to four years that this type of activity has increased. In a nutshell, they found out that a lot of different things were going on.”

Gregory said credit card purchases led to the initial discovery.

“The owner was reviewing who in the company had credit cards,” Gregory said. “There were charges on statements for her card that didn’t make sense. She (Hicks) was also writing checks to herself and putting them in her bank account, like extra paychecks.” Adam Cook, Catoosa County News

Judge dismisses alarm companies’ federal lawsuit

SANDY SPRINGS — The city of Sandy Springs Thursday announced the U.S. District Court Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Georgia Electronic Life Safety & Systems Association and A-Com Security Co. LLP and Safecom Security Solutions Inc. alarm companies charging the city’s false alarm ordinance was unconstitutional. The court opinion found substantive due process and legitimate governmental reasons for the ordinance and a rational basis for the city to believe the law furthers a legitimate purpose.

The alarm companies and the association filed suit March 12, claiming the ordinance violated their constitutional rights by fining the alarm companies for the false alarms they reported to 911 on behalf of their customers. The city maintains it is trying to resolve a public safety crisis created by the alarm industry.

Almost 18 percent of all calls coming into the 911 center come from alarm companies, of which, 99 percent are false alarms. The city revised its ordinance in September 2017, because the model ordinance recommended by the alarm association and implemented by the city in 2013 proved to have no substantial impact in reducing the number of false alarms. In 2017, there were 9,802 calls to the 911 center by alarm companies with 99 percent of those false alarms.