A police officer dismissed by the Commerce Police Department earlier this year for alleged misconduct has been hired by another North Georgia law enforcement agency.
Jacob Cody Wood, who became the subject of statewide media coverage after he was accused of charging drivers who were not impaired with DUIs, is now employed as a deputy with the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office.
As reported by state and local media outlets, Wood faced an impending departure from the Commerce Police Department until a separation agreement was reached between the city and Wood’s legal team.
Under that agreement, the city of Commerce agreed “to allow (Wood) to resign in lieu of termination.”
Language in the separation agreement, which was obtained by Now Habersham, states:
“The city further agrees to designate employee’s separation as a ‘voluntary resignation’ for all purposes…as part of this separation agreement, the city waives all claims for reimbursement.”
Wood joins Oglethorpe County
Wood joined Oglethorpe’s Sheriff’s Office in May, according to Georgia’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST). Now Habersham has confirmed that POST has an active investigation into Wood stemming from the allegations in February.
Sheriff David Gabriel could not be reached despite multiple inquiries for comment.
“Mr. Wood’s investigation is pending,” said Christopher Lee, an investigator with POST District 7. “I do not have a date on when it will be reviewed by the POST council.”
Fox 5 Atlanta reported in February that Wood “made twice as many DUI arrests in 2023 as the rest of the (Commerce Police) Department combined.” Wood would often charge a driver with DUI/drugs despite the absence of drugs in the vehicle, according to a Fox 5 I-Team investigation, and no drugs or illegal substances were found in the systems of a number of people who submitted to blood tests after their arrests.
More than a dozen DUI cases of individuals who’d been charged by Wood were later dropped by the solicitor’s office, Fox 5 reported.
In 2018, the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office hired former Athens-Clarke County police officer Taylor Saulters, who was terminated by ACCPD after he’d been accused of intentionally hitting a fleeing suspect with his vehicle.
