In a Monday evening executive session lasting about 40 minutes, the Kosciusko Board of Aldermen authorized Mayor Jimmy Cockroft and Police Chief Herbert Dew to discuss a potential return to the force for suspended police Investigator Greg Collins.
Cockroft said the pair plan to meet with Collins Tuesday to discuss whether and in what role Collins may potentially return to the force.
The action comes after the DeSoto County grand jury (17th Circuit Court) declined to indict Collins on charges of sexual battery on May 8, five months to the day from when a woman filed a complaint against Collins with the Olive Branch Police Department (OBPD) on Dec. 8, 2018.
According to a statement issued by the OBPD at the time of the alleged incident, the complainant and Collins reportedly met in an area bar and later went to his hotel room, where the incident supposedly took place.
Collins and five other Kosciusko officers were in Olive Branch from the prior Thursday through that Saturday for Field Force Operations training offered by the federal Department of Homeland Security, according to Kosciusko Police Chief Herbert Dew.
Following his arrest, Collins was released on a $22,222 bond and the Kosciusko Board of Aldermen voted to suspend him without pay until the matter was resolved.
A spokesperson with the DeSoto County District Attorney’s Office told The Star-Herald last week that — while their office presented the case to the grand jury — the body “did not return an indictment, stating that there was not enough evidence for the case to go forward.”
The Star-Herald will continue to follow this developing story.
