Chattooga County Sheriff John Everett fires jailer

photo Chattooga County Sheriff John Everett
Arkansas-Kentucky Live Blog
photo Robert Alan Boyd

A jailer in Chattooga County, Ga., was fired last week after authorities say he flipped off a deputy and got behind the wheel after he'd been drinking.

Chattooga County Sheriff John Everett said he fired 44-year-old Robert Allen Boyd after a blood-alcohol test showed he had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

Boyd couldn't be reached for comment.

This is the third Chattooga County sheriff's employee he has fired in the last year, Everett said.

Investigator Gary Mull was fired in March for having alcohol on his breath when he was called in to investigate a stabbing. Last November, Deputy Carrie Brown was fired before she started her first day of work because it was discovered that she was living with a convicted felon. Later that week, Brown was caught with marijuana in the house and arrested.

Everett said he fired the employees immediately and didn't need to conduct an internal investigation because they were clearly breaking the law or office policies.

"I don't want someone to arrest people for doing the same thing," he said.

On Aug. 5, Boyd, a 12-year employee, was sitting in his car at his house on Oak Hill Alpine Road when a deputy drove by and Boyd flipped him off, Everett said.

The deputy stopped his patrol car farther down the street and saw Boyd pull out of his driveway, then run off the road, Everett said. Boyd was questioned, then arrested for drinking and driving, the sheriff said.

Boyd was charged with DUI, failure to maintain his lane and a seat belt violation, booking reports show.

The sheriff said when he talked to Boyd, the man told him "he was sorry and he realized the consequences."

Contact Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.

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