Chattooga County Sheriff calls on GBI to conduct independent investigation into State Line Road incident

On Tuesday, May 28, at 2:46 p.m., Chattooga County Sheriff Mark A. Schrader issued the following statement: “In the interest of public transparency, I have formally requested that the GBI conduct an independent investigation into the recent incident on State Line Road. My office continues to conduct our internal investigation and assessment of this incident.”

The incident on State Line Road occurred on Thursday, May 16, after 7:30 p.m.

Sheriff Schrader released his first statement on the incident on Saturday, May 25, at 4:26 p.m.

“An internal evaluation of the use of force by MPs will be conducted to ensure that MPs acted within our guidelines,” Schrader said.

As for the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office’s internal investigation, Schrader said, “We will gather all the facts related to this case, the videos, reports, statements, witness interviews, etc. Once that is complete, we will review all the information and look at the officers’ actions and use of force. Then we will evaluate that information in light of our policies.”

When asked about a timeline for the investigation process, Schrader said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t give a timeline. Chief Deputy Woods began gathering information the day after the incident.”

The use of force policy was not available on the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office website because the website is displaying an error. (https://www.chattoogasheriff.com/)

AllOnGeorgia requested a copy of the use of force policies from the sheriff’s office, but the requested policies had not been received at the time of publication.

AllOnGeorgia also submitted a request for the release of bodycam footage from the officers involved in the incident, to which Sheriff Schrader promptly responded: “This case is still open, so documents or videos (other than the original incident report) cannot be released as part of the public records at this time.”

More information about the incident on State Line Road:

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/family-claims-excessive-force-chattooga-county-deputies

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/disturbing-video-shows-deputies-tase-man-with-head-injury-after-atv-crash-put-him-headlock/A6P4IBDX7FGSBHODO7T5UJHE5U/

Family claims Chattooga County officials used excessive force