MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA – Mobile County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a former Bayou La Batre Police sergeant this morning, accused of stealing $2,600 from the department.
A Mobile grand jury indicted Jason Edwards on a charge of first-degree theft of property. He was released on $20,000 bail.
Edwards, who acted as a spokesman for the department for many years, resigned May 5 without notice.
“I understand that this resignation will not be accepted in good standings and furthermore agree that I will not seek employment with the police department in the future,” he said in his letter of resignation, a copy of which was obtained by the Press-Register.
It’s likely that the charge stems from a May inquiry by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation into money that had been seized but later went missing.
Mayor Stan Wright said at the time that he would do everything in his power to see the culprit “prosecuted to the fullest.”
Wright now faces his own legal troubles, accused of defrauding the federal government after Hurricane Katrina. He has denied wrongdoing.
