Officers accused of selling reports resign
DECATUR — Two police officers in Georgia have chosen to resign instead of being terminated following their arrests last month for allegedly selling accident reports to third parties for profit.
Nikko McClinton and Ronald Anderson, both nineyear veterans of the DeKalb County Police Department, were arrested Jan. 30 after authorities learned they were selling crash reports, agency spokeswoman Michaela Vincent told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Both men were charged with computer theft and violating their oath of office, Vincent said in a previous news release. McClinton also faces one count of bribery. jail records show.
The criminal investigation was launched after another DeKalb police officer learned of the alleged scheme and alerted investigators, authorities said. Both men were placed on administrative leave with pay until their resignations, which the department announced late Friday on Twitter.
“The DeKalb County Police Department will not tolerate officer misconduct and will take proper action to safeguard the privacy of our citizens and enforce the law,” DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha Ramos said in a statement.
Irish Festival a prelude to St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah
SAVANNAH — A celebration in Savannah this weekend signals that the city’s most popular holiday is drawing near.
The Savannah Irish Festival is celebrating its 28th year in Georgia’s oldest city this weekend. The festival arrives a month before the city’s popular St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Organizers of the Irish Festival have long aimed for more of a family friendly crowd. Musicians will perform traditional Irish folk tunes onstage at the Savannah civic center, which will also host special activities for children. Food vendors selling smoked brisket, Irish soda bread and fish and chips were also on the itinerary.
The festival serves as an early prelude to Savannah’s 196-year-old St. Patrick’s Day parade. Thousands jam the city’s oak-shaded squares and cobblestone streets for the Irish holiday each year in what’s become one of the largest St. Patrick’s celebrations in the U.S.
The 2020 parade will be held on March 17, a Tuesday.
Dan Falcitelli, the executive director of Floyd Against Drugs, was named Advocate of the Year by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.
Despite the fact that Washington D.C. was so busy that night President Donald Trump was acquitted, he at least got to tell District 14 House Rep. Tom Graves about the award.
“He said he was proud of us,” Falcitelli said. He received the title from work done for Floyd County and Rome City youth to see a downward spiral in the use of alcohol and marijuana.
Some of that work included holding a lunch and learn event in 2018 to educate about the use of prescription drugs, which he’s seen as a problem in the area. He also has taken time to talk to students about vaping and how dangerous it can be.
FAD is strictly based on preventing students from doing drugs, whether it’s alcohol, prescription or recreational use. Falcitelli came in as the executive director of the group in 2015 and said much of his passion for preventative measures against drug use comes from personal family experiences.
When his family moved to Floyd County, his two daughters attended school in the Model area. His oldest went to Model High School and his youngest went to Model Middle School. Both of his daughters told him they knew of students who were doing drugs in the bathroom at the schools.
“I was like, ‘Where’s my badge? Where’s my gun?” the retired police officer laughed. “But that kind of fueled it.”
His sister also dealt with addiction after getting involved in a wreck with a drunk driver in Valdosta where Falcitelli served as a police officer. Doctors prescribed her with pain medication and she ended up becoming addicted to it.
“People that say it won’t happen to them, they better watch out,” he said. “She broke her jaw and hurt her shoulder. Just like that, she ended up addicted.”
He took his sister in after that, and she’s been clean for two years.
The group is hoping to extend the federal grant that funds Floyd Against Drugs to begin work on prescription drugs.
Along with the work the group has done in Floyd County and Rome City Schools, they have donated Narcan to both local police departments. The nasal spray counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose.
Rome woman charged with endangering a child while DUI
A 30-year-old Rome woman was arrested Friday, accused of having a child in her vehicle while driving under the influence of drugs.
According to Floyd County Jail reports:
Candice Nichole Franks was charged with felony endangering a child while driving under the influence of drugs, and driving under the influence of drugs.
Visit the Rome NewsTribune website to see more police reports.
Also see PDFs of Floyd County Jail intake reports — including inmate photographs — as they are released twice each day by the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office.