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Dispute in DA’s office leads to warrants
Published Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hayneville police chief John Mitchell was arrested in Butler County on Tuesday on charges he threatened Lowndes County Sheriff Charles "Chip" Williams.
Mitchell turned himself in to Butler County sheriff's deputies and was released on $1500 bond shortly after.
Williams swore out a warrant in Butler County for Mitchell's arrest on Monday for menacing and harassment, said Sheriff Kenny Harden.
The warrant stemmed from an argument that took place between Williams and Mitchell in District Attorney John Andrews' office at the Butler County Courthouse last Thursday.
According to Williams he and Mitchell were there to discuss the 2nd Judicial Drug Task Force with Andrews. Williams said he raised a question about the task force and Mitchell's voice began to get louder.
"I told Chief Mitchell not to holler at me and that's when he stood up and appeared to reach for his weapon," said Williams. "I jumped up and went into defense mode and two officers came between us."
Williams said Mitchell settled down and the meeting continued, but then decided to file the warrant to document the incident and Mitchell's alleged actions.
Leaving the Butler County Correctional Facility on Tuesday after his release, Mitchell deferred all questions to his attorney, Michael Strickland.
Strickland released a statement through his office that differs from Williams' version of the incident. In the release, Strickland said it was Williams who threatened Mitchell.
"During a discussion of command and control procedures applicable to drug task force agents, which was led by District Attorney Andrews, Sheriff Williams became agitated and angry, and subsequently threatened the life of Chief John Mitchell," said the release. "Chief Mitchell stated that Williams threatened “you will die” at one point during the argument with Mitchell over the command and control procedures (of the DTF)."
According to Strickland, Mitchell swore out a warrant for Williams' arrest for harassment but no arrest had been made at press time.
Andrews is out of town and was unavailable for comment, according to the District Attorney's office.
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Comments
Posted by luvinmylife (anonymous) on September 23, 2009 at 2:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Now children....Play nice! I think they should both be put in time out. LMAO! If they want to act like children, treat them like children.
Posted by SHS84 (anonymous) on September 23, 2009 at 6:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I say now, let's have a duel at 30 paces. Invite the public, set up concessions, have a street dance afterwards. Oh heck, I forgot, the old western days are over. We gotta see this play out in court. There goes our tax dollars being wasted on another stupid trial.
Posted by tj1679 (anonymous) on September 23, 2009 at 8:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is like the cow town version of Super Troopers....funny movie!
Posted by riverrin (anonymous) on September 23, 2009 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let them go. Lowdnes needs a new chief and deputy anyway. I hate that WSFA covered it cause it still reflects bad on Butler Co.
Posted by sunshine524119 (anonymous) on September 23, 2009 at 1:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Everyone should get along and be nice especially when there is a witness in the room. Ever since Chip was appointed as the Sheriff by the Governor, most of the law enforcement, city workers, county workers, and other political people do not like it. What needs to happen it get over their issues with things that happened in the past and leave them there and get along. GOD is our ruler and this stupidity needs to STOP. If it doesn't they may turn up in HELL even if they THINK they are a TRUE Christian. The Cheif needs to do his job and do it better & keep all of the thugs and drug pushers in jail instead of out on the corner selling it.
Posted by luvinmylife (anonymous) on September 25, 2009 at 7:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thats the whole problem. The sheriff is trying to clean up and the chief dont like it. i dont think it makes Butler county look bad. It makes Lowndes county look bad. There has been way too much crookedness going on in lowndes county for way too long and change is coming. They are having to watch their step now and its causing an uproar in the protected drug communities. They no longer are going to be able to look the other way.
Posted by lolalane (anonymous) on September 26, 2009 at noon (Suggest removal)
Well here is my take on it. These men are supposed to represent the law and when they take to drawing weapons at 20 paces, they have outlived their usefulness.
See Chip, my gun is bigger than your gun. Maybe they didn't get their issues settled in the locker room as boys.
Posted by 1tymer (anonymous) on September 29, 2009 at 5:03 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by bones (anonymous) on September 30, 2009 at 7:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This just goes to show you the law is just as bad as a criminal they just have a badge. Our law inforcment agency isn't all its cracked up to be. Their is still some great policemen out there that sets great examples but the other ones need to act like adults and not big babys.
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