Former police chief, parolee charged in fire station burglary

CLARKESVILLE - A 27-year law enforcement veteran from Cornelia who taught numerous classes to police officers from around the state was arrested Thursday afternoon in Cornelia.

Roger Eric Hulsey, 46, is charged with theft by receiving stolen property and obstructing or hindering law enforcement in connection with a January burglary at a Habersham County fire station.

Also arrested was Randall Myron Wooten, 47, of Clarkesville, who is charged with second-degree burglary and a parole violation.

When volunteer firefighters arrived for their weekly training at Habersham County Station 15 (Macedonia) on New Liberty Road north of Clarkesville Jan. 20, they discovered the equipment on their trucks had been stolen.

Items taken included two generators, a chainsaw, shovels, fire rakes, hydrant wrench, oxygen kit, medical jump kits, five boxes of latex gloves, two scene lights with stands, a Little Giant ladder, rope bag, an automated external defibrillator, sledge hammer, crowbar, two axes, a first aid kit, set of bolt cutters, two gas cans, two flashlights and miscellaneous other equipment. Total value of the items taken was listed at $8,154.

Hulsey formerly served as a road sergeant and on the SWAT Team in Dawson County, as chief of police for the Habersham County Board of Education Police Department, for 14 years with Helen Police Department (part-time and full-time) and in positions at Baldwin Police Department and the Habersham County Sheriff's Office.

Hulsey also was a POST instructor for officers from throughout the state.

In addition, Hulsey was the senior lead instructor and co-owner of Trinity Anti-Terrorism Training in Habersham County from October 2001-July 2013.

Hulsey also served as owner/CEO/lead investigator for Trinity Investigation and Training Services in Cornelia from January 2010 to January 2013, specializing in bail bond investigating, private investigating and domestic surveillance.

Hulsey lists his education as Georgia Military College-Atlanta Campus with an associate in arts equivalent in criminal science/psychology; and with an associate in arts equivalent in forensic pathology from Georgia Southern University.

Outside law enforcement, Hulsey also formerly served as pastor of a Cornelia church.

At the time of his arrest, Hulsey was retired.

Wooten was released from Smith Transitional Center on parole on Oct. 15, 2012, on the major offense of burglary, Georgia Department of Corrections records show. Had he not been paroled, his maximum release date would have been Oct. 4, 2015.

Wooten was sentenced to five years for theft by taking in Habersham County, a crime that was committed Dec. 11, 2006.

He also was convicted of three counts of burglary in Rabun County that occurred on Sept. 30, 2006. His sentence for those charges was 20 years each.

Wooten was sentenced to five years each for possession of narcotics/opiates and possession of marijuana in Habersham County. The offenses occurred on July 20, 2005.

Wooten's previous incarcerations include: June 6, 2007 to Oct. 15, 2012; Sept. 8, 1993 to Dec. 28, 1993; and April 4, 1988 to May 10, 1989, Georgia DOC records show.

The Habersham County Sheriff's Office made the arrests, and the men remained in the Habersham County Detention Center Monday evening.