Former Cartersville police officer Donna Jean Kelley was arrested for stealing money from the department’s evidence room in Georgia.
A former female police officer in the state of Georgia in the United States has been arrested and locked up in jail after law enforcement agents caught her stealing money from the police department’s secure evidence storage room.
The former officer, identified as Donna Jean Kelley from the town of Cartersville, was taken into custody by state investigators following a deep check into missing cash that was supposed to be kept safe inside the police building.
The trouble started when senior leaders at the Cartersville Police Department noticed that money kept in their evidence room was missing.
Because they wanted a neutral agency to check what was going on, the local police department officially asked state investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to come into their office to look into the matter.
State agents immediately opened an investigation into the police department’s internal record books and evidence lockers to find out who took the missing cash.
After months of checking records and tracking how items were handled, state agents discovered that Donna Jean Kelley was the person who took the money.
At the time the money disappeared from the room, Kelley was working as an active police officer and was also the official evidence custodian responsible for keeping all seized items and money locked up safely.
Instead of protecting the property brought to the police station, investigators found that she used her special access position to take cash for herself.
Following the findings of the state investigation, law enforcement officers arrested Kelley and locked her inside the Bartow County Jail.
State officials confirmed that she is now facing three serious criminal charges, which are violation of officer oath, first-degree forgery, and felony theft by taking.
Explaining what happened during the long investigation, state agents revealed that “agents determined that Kelley stole money from the evidence room while she was employed by the department as both an officer and evidence custodian.”
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State officials have not yet disclosed the exact total amount of money that was stolen from the evidence vault or the specific details of what documents Kelley forged while serving as custodian.
However, the state investigative agency emphasized that any police officer who breaks the law will be held responsible.
Reassuring the public about the case, state officials stated that “once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Bartow County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.”
Investigators are asking anyone with extra information about the missing money to come forward as the court case moves forward.
Jennifer Baba is a journalist, international news correspondent, and writer at Moderncrux, where she covers artificial intelligence, fintech, emerging technologies, global politics, and international affairs. Based in Nigeria, she is passionate about transforming complex global developments into clear, engaging stories that inform and inspire readers.
