DALTON, Ga. — District Attorney Bert Poston said Wednesday he had not had time to review the results of a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) investigation of Varnell Police Chief Lyle Grant for possible felony theft by conversion and reckless conduct for providing an encrypted portable radio to a local wrecker service.

Poston said he hoped to do so later this week “or next at the latest.”

The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office referred the incident to the GBI in March. The sheriff’s office said in a statement, “The sheriff’s office initiated an investigation after recovering an encrypted portable radio which contained numerous frequencies that were being used throughout the county. It was determined shortly after starting the investigation that criminal charges could arise from this incident, therefore the case was turned over to the GBI to investigate.”

Grant provided an encrypted, county-owned radio to Bob Cummings, owner of Bob’s Wrecker Service in Dalton. Grant told a reporter in March that Bob’s is the only towing service that applied to be on Varnell’s rotation this year to be called when wrecks occur.

“I did not intend to violate any laws or policies. I only intended to benefit the city of Varnell,” Grant said.

A case summary in a sheriff’s office incident report mentions the possibility of reckless conduct “due to Chief Grant providing an encrypted police radio to a private citizen and his employees to use and disregarding the potential safety risks to law enforcement officers engaged in undercover/sting/narcotics operations. A private citizen, his employees and customers could be privy to and monitor sensitive law enforcement operations such as ‘buy busts,’ undercover drug operations and search warrant executions in real time on encrypted channels, (posing) a substantial and unjustifiable risk to law enforcement (officers’) safety.”

The case summary discusses theft by conversion “due to Chief Grant converting Whitfield County-owned property to private use when he knowingly and willfully gave/loaned the radio to Robert Cummings to use in his private business.”