Former Firefighter Pleads Not Guilty To Stealing $20

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The former Cherokee County firefighter accused of stealing $20 from a collective fire station fund has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.

Court documents show Matthew Stephen Knowles has also waived his formal arraignment in connection to the allegations.

The Cherokee County Solicitor General's Office last week filed one accusation of misdemeanor theft by taking against the Woodstock resident. Knowles allegedly stole $20 from the "property of Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Station 1 personnel," the accusation states.

Knowles, 31, was charged in May following an investigation launched by the county fire department.

Lt. Jay Baker, spokesperson with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, previously told Patch that the fire department requested a criminal investigation after its own internal probe revealed missing money from the "house dues" fund at Fire Station No. 1 on Bells Ferry Road in Acworth.

House dues are the personal funds firefighters contribute to cover miscellaneous expenses such as coffee. During an interview, Knowles admitted to "entering a locker where the house dues were stored and removing $20," Baker previously said.

Knowles was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center and was released on a $720 bond. A three-year veteran of Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, Knowles was eventually fired from his post.

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