Bell probe over; DA says no case to pursue
BY ANGELA GARY
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations of misconduct by former Arcade police chief Dennis Bell has ended and the district attorney says there is “no legal basis” to pursue prosecution.
“The results of this investigation show that there is no legal basis for presentation of this matter to the grand jury,” DA Richard Bridgeman wrote in a letter to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “Therefore, this file will be administratively closed with no further action anticipated by this office in connection with this case…Many of the allegations contained in the original complaints made in this matter, while troubling, would not constitute prosecutable criminal conduct.”
Allegations of ticket fixing, gambling, corruption, and falsification of work hours were made against Bell in anonymous letters sent to the City of Arcade and the state attorney general’s office in October. Several weeks later, Bell resigned following more than 11 years on the job after reaching a $25,701 settlement with the city.
Arcade conducted its own internal investigation of Bell in November. According to a report, no corroborating evidence regarding the gambling allegation was found.
The GBI investigation into Bell dealt with only one allegation — that the former chief was responsible for missing original citations related to the arrest of a woman.
“Other than the inadmissible hearsay statement…that he (a police officer) gave the paperwork at issue to Bell, there is no evidence as to the whereabouts or disposition of the missing citations,” Bridgeman wrote in the letter to the GBI. “Furthermore, there is no corroboration that he (the officer) actually provided the paperwork to Bell.”
The officer later resigned from the Arcade Police Department after being arrested in Oconee County.
