NASHVILLE — The mayor of Nashville was indicted this week on charges from a 2020 incident, the Alapaha District Attorney’s office said.

Taylor Scarbrough, 56, was indicted by the Berrien County Grand Jury in its first meeting in almost a year, Alapaha District Attorney Dick Perryman said in a statement. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a shutdown of many judicial functions statewide in 2020.

The mayor was indicted on charges of theft by conversion and theft by deception, Perryman said.

On Aug. 17, deputies were dispatched to Scarbrough’s home; a man claimed the mayor had taken and used his excavator without permission and had caused significant damage to the machinery, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation statement said.

On Aug. 20, the GBI’s Douglas Regional Office received a request from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office to conduct an investigation regarding the allegation of property damage by a public official.

Scarbrough turned himself in to the Berrien County Jail without incident, the GBI said. He was initially charged with theft by conversion and theft of services.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.