http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0803/19officer.html
Why are Atlanta authorities just now charging a “stellar” police officer with helping drug gang members after complaints that go back several years? That’s a major question in the case of David Alan Freeman, only recently named his unit’s Officer of the Year and now being held without bond.
Freeman, 38, a former student body president at Georgia State University, lost a request yesterday to be released pending trial, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says. A federal magistrate said there was “sufficient probable cause” that Freeman would flee and intimidate witnesses if released. Among incidents cited by prosecutors was a charge that along with other members of the “Diablos” gang, Freeman kidnapped a drug dealer known as “C.J.” and ordered him beaten, pointed a gun at the man’s head and threatened to shoot him.
Defense attorney Manny Arora said “witnesses have been making complaints for four years, so why didn’t the police do anything? Why wasn’t he indicted in ’98 to 2000? “It strikes me as completely odd.” Arora added that his client “is a stellar officer.” Freeman’s boss, Major George Turner, said of the arrest: “I was extremely shocked. He made more arrests on his watch — felony and misdemeanor — than anyone else.”
Link: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0803/19officer.html