Monday March 18th, 2024 10:18PM

Columbus fire officer arrested for selling drugs, resigns

By The Associated Press
<p>A firefighting official, who has been charged with selling drugs, has resigned from his post.</p><p>Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services Lt. Robert Jason Dempsey resigned Friday, one day after he was arrested at the fire station for selling methamphetamine and cocaine.</p><p>Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Jeff Meyer said his department's investigators met with Dempsey at the jail Friday morning.</p><p>"My personnel went to inform him his employment was going to be terminated," Meyer said. "Before they could get to that, he wanted to resign."</p><p>Dempsey, 33, of Fortson has been charged with two counts of distribution of a controlled substance and three counts of using a communication device in the commission of a crime.</p><p>He made an initial appearance Friday in Columbus Recorder's Court, where he pleaded not guilty. Earlier in the day, Muscogee County Superior Court Chief Judge Kenneth Followill set bonds totaling $65,000.</p><p>Sgt. Rick Stinson of the Metro Narcotics Drug Task Force said Dempsey had been under investigation for about a month. Information that led to the arrest came from an informant, Stinson said.</p><p>Dempsey was using a cell phone to arrange drug sales while he was on duty, Stinson said.</p><p>"He didn't make any sales at the fire station," Stinson said. "We talked to him at the station, then he left and sold."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9cec)</p>
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