2nd former Aragon officer charged, accused of stealing gun from evidence room

The Polk County Standard Journal, northwestgeorgianews.com/polkfishwrap/news/local
BYLINE: Kevin Myrick

Aragon, GA


John Goodwill

A former Aragon Police Department lieutenant is facing felony and misdemeanor theft charges in a second incident of a gun theft from the city’s evidence room.

John Goodwill, 47, was laid off as part of the city’s overall reduction in force in August 2014, but the crime dates back to while he was on duty in 2013.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Chief Jailer Al Sharp reported that Goodwill was arrested by county police on Wednesday afternoon. The warrant alleges Goodwill took a pistol from the property room at the city of Aragon.

He is charged with felony theft by taking and violation of oath of office, along with a misdemeanor count of theft by conversion.

Aragon Mayor Ken Suffridge said the charges came out of an investigation brought on following accusations that 52-year-old Michael Conner stole a department-issue weapon.

Conner, who was working as the Aragon Police Department’s training officer until mid-July, also faces the same charges as Goodwill for taking and selling a department-issued Glock 23. Suffridge said a .38 caliber pistol was found missing in this latest incident.

“This was part of the ongoing investigation into the first theft and the inventory that Mr. Conner completed for us at the time,” he said. “We felt like there was some wrongdoing taking place and we wanted to know what it was. In the process of finding out what has happened, this incident was turned up.”

Suffridge said he “hated that it happened, but at the end of the day it is what it is.”

Goodwill was in jail on the felony and misdemeanor charges Wednesday night. No bond had yet been set.

Connor, of Woodstock, is out on bond. Suffridge said the Glock was found to have been sold to a private individual, who returned it to the city as evidence.

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