Catoosa County prosecutor arrested for criminal trespass, drug possession
Nashville TN May 11 2018 Police arrested a North Georgia assistant district attorney Monday for allegedly acting drunk and belligerent at a hotel.
According to a Davidson County arrest warrant, a security guard at the Omni Hotel called the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department around 1 a.m. Monday after getting into an argument with Michael David Kelley, a prosecutor in Catoosa County. The security guard said Kelley got angry when he tried to confront Kelley about smoking inside.
The security guard told officers that Kelley flashed a “police type badge” and refused to comply with the guard’s requests. Eventually, Kelley went back to a hotel room. Officers arrived and knocked on the door.
“(Expletive) you,” Kelley allegedly shouted back, according to the report. “No one needs your help. Go away.”
The officers said they knocked on the door for several minutes and announced they were the police before Kelley finally opened the door.
According to the report, Kelley refused to step into the hallway, and officers detained him near the door. They said he appeared drunk. He told them, “I didn’t do anything.”
Officers escorted him out of the hotel before searching his room. According to the report, they found three guns in the room. On a key ring, they found a vial with a single Clonazepam pill. This is medication that treats anxiety, panic disorder and seizures.
Kelley told the officers he has a prescription for the medication. The report does not make clear whether he was able to immediately show them a prescription. But the officers booked him into the Davidson County Jail on charges of criminal trespass, for refusing to leave the hotel, and unlawful possession of a drug without a prescription.
Kelley’s boss, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin, did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment this evening.
Times Free Press
