GRAY, Ga. (AP) — The head of a Georgia state agency quietly resigned after he was arrested and charged with shoplifting from a hardware store.
The Athens Banner-Herald obtained former Georgia Forestry Commission director Chuck Williams’ resignation letter dated Aug. 14 as well as the police report written after his arrest Aug. 13. The agency made no mention of Williams’ departure when it announced last month that Gov. Brian Kemp had appointed an interim director.
A former state legislator from Watkinsville, 64-year-old Williams had led the state Forestry Commission since 2017. The agency is tasked with helping manage Georgia’s vast forestland and fighting wildfires. It has more than 600 employees and an annual budget exceeding $50 million.
The state paid Williams a salary of $165,000.
According to a police report, a security camera at a hardware store in northeast Georgia recorded Williams switching price tags on a pair of saws on Aug. 12. He then used a credit card to buy the more expensive saw — valued at $109.99 — for the cheaper saw’s price of $55.99, the report said.