Story courtesy of WALB
WALB has reported that four people connected to the Fitzgerald Housing Authority were arrested after a grand jury indictment related to video footage not being released to local police. One of the individuals, Fitzgerald Housing Authority attorney Toni Sawyer, is also the attorney for the Douglas Housing Authority.
On Tuesday, April 9, Sawyer, Dr. Howard Lamond Hall, Brenda Lunsford, and Tracy McKie were all arrested and charged with obstruction following an April 1 grand jury indictment in connection to incidents at the Fitzgerald Housing Authority, according to the WALB report.
In 2023, the housing authority received a grant to install cameras at their public housing properties, according to a Fitzgerald police release. The cameras were installed for law enforcement to access video when investigating crimes.
The WALB story states that in October 2023, people were reportedly seen shooting at each other and one person was injured near public housing. The Fitzgerald Police Department then asked the housing authority for the video from the time of the incident which was denied without a search warrant, a release said.
The FPD says they did not receive video from Sawyer, an attorney for the housing authority who faces two counts of obstruction, until after the video from the date of the shooting had already been recorded over, the WALB report states.
In March 2024, police had to again issue a search warrant for a video of an incident near public housing. That video was given to the department.
In the WALB story, the FPD issued this statement on the indictment and charges:
“Instead of working with public safety, the Fitzgerald Housing Authority, the housing authority board, and the Fitzgerald Housing Authority Attorney has obstructed officers in the investigations of two (2) different incidents. This does nothing positive for the victims in these cases that we serve, as well as time and efforts that could be utilized in other areas of the cases so they could be solved.”
All four people have since bonded out of the Ben Hill County Jail.