City Fires Cop For Mishandling Evidence During Drug Raid

ALPHARETTA, GA — The Alpharetta Department of Public Safety has fired a detective after an internal investigation found he mishandled evidence during a drug raid conducted in Forsyth County. The agency last month terminated the employment of Shawn Chapman, who was found to be in violation of policies outlining code of conduct, evidence collection, crime scene search and the procedural process of the internal affairs investigation, a report released by the city of Alpharetta states.

Chapman and members of the police department's Special Investigation Unit were called in to assist with an Oct. 3, 2017, narcotics operation coordinated by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. A search warrant was executed at a home on Ellington Cove in Cumming where a "large amount of narcotics, U.S. currency and other related evidence" was uncovered, the file states.

While at the scene of the home, officers from both agencies were dispersed throughout the residence and assigned to search particular areas. When interviewed after the incident, Chapman told the internal affairs investigator that he was assigned to the so-called drug room in the house where the narcotics were recovered. He ventured into the master bedroom and asked other officers if they searched the night stand in the bedroom. According to Chapman, he was told they did not find anything in the nightstand, but he was welcome to search the piece of furniture.

Chapman opened the night stand and found a checkbook box, which contained $4,000 in cash. At that moment, Chapman told the investigator that nature began calling and he went into the toilet closet. According to the report, Chapman said he didn't want to leave the money out "and he wanted to impress his lieutenant with his discovery."

So, Chapman went into the bathroom with the cash and later exited with the money in his hand. However, this account was disputed by other Alpharetta officers and Forsyth County sheriff's deputies who were also at the scene.

According to the report, Forsyth sheriff's deputies initially conducted a search of the home, the master bedroom and the bathroom and began photographing evidence as they made their way through the residence. A detective at the scene found the money in the nightstand, photographed the cash and left it in place while the execution of the search warrant played out.

At some point during the evening, those deputies discovered money found in the nightstand went missing and spent minutes looking for the cash when Chapman appeared from the restroom with the money in his hand.

These officers and deputies also said that when Chapman emerged from the toilet room, he said it was not working. When they inspected the back of the toilet, they found a pair of clothing partially submerged in the tank's water.

A Forsyth sheriff's detective told the internal affairs investigator that he previously checked the tank before Chapman entered the bathroom and noted it was empty. They also noted there were no signs that Chapman used the restroom facilities while inside the toilet room.

According to the investigation file, all of the detectives at the scene were aware that evidence must be photographed in its place before it's collected or processed, a policy procedure Chapman violated. The investigation concluded that he also didn't tell anyone he came across the money inside the nightstand, another violation of the agency's policy. He was also found not to be honest when he said he didn't hear the commotion from other officers expressing concern over the missing money and that he found the pair of pants inside the toilet's tank.

Chapman was placed on paid administrative leave a day following the incident and was fired following the completion of the investigation on Dec. 14, 2017. The city's investigation was conducted alongside the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's probe.

"Our internal affairs investigation could not be completed until the conclusion of the GBI investigation, as we could not conduct interviews until after the GBI determined whether or not there was evidence of any criminal act on the part of Mr. Chapman," said Alpharetta Assistant City Administrator James Drinkard.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Nelly Miles said the case has been turned over to the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office for action.

Chapman was hired by the city of Alpharetta on Jan. 3, 2017. Before that, he worked for five years a deputy with the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office. He graduated in 2009 Lumpkin County High School and his Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council certification in March 2014.

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