BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) — A candidate for the Benton County interim sheriff position was accused of destroying evidence and altering documents while he was working as a Georgia lieutenant in 2011, according to an affidavit.
Timothy Filbeck, who currently works with Tontitown Police, was accused of wrongfully arresting people for burglarizing his home, as well as destroying and altering evidence, during an incident in 2011, the affidavit states. Filbeck was a working as a lieutenant in the Butts County Sheriff’s Department in Georgia at the time of the incident.
According to the affidavit, which was filed by the Benton County Clerk on Wednesday (April 20), the plaintiffs were hired by a loan servicing company to clean out Filbeck’s home after it foreclosed.
They started cleaning out the home on January 30, 2011, and they removed several items from the home. According to the affidavit, when Filbeck found the items were missing, he filed a police report using the name of Sergeant Kenneth Mundy and submitted an insurance claim for the missing items. Filbeck claimed that he didn’t see the foreclosure notice, so he didn’t contact anyone at the company. He also boarded the windows of the home, nailed the doors shut and posted “Keep Out” signs on the property.
“Whenever somebody comes to evict you, they’re supposed to take your property and set it on the roadside,” Filbeck said. “But, no eviction notice had ever been applied for.”
On Jan. 31, the employees returned and found the home boarded up, so they called their employer. The employer called the Butts County Sheriff’s Department, who dispatched an officer.
The document states the officer wouldn’t let the workers enter the property, but he did not make an arrest because he didn’t think a crime was being committed. He recorded the encounter in his daily activity report.
The plaintiffs alleged that Filbeck wrongfully arrested them for burglary on Feb. 22, 2011, when they returned to finish cleaning out items from the home. They said that they, as well as their employer, attempted to explain they were hired to do the job. Several items were confiscated, including cameras that allegedly had pictures of the home, including the foreclosure notice.
Filbeck said the arrests were justified, as he still owned the property.
“We were still the owners of the property, so the people were arrested,” Filbeck said.
The document states that Filbeck later retrieved an impounded camera and downloaded pictures onto his computer without the knowledge or permission of the Butts County Sheriff Department. Filbeck said that he returned the camera, but the sheriff’s department was unable to locate it.
After the arrests, Sergeant Mundy found his name on the Jan. 30 report and demanded it be removed, the document states. Filbeck allegedly altered the report by listing his name as the reporting officer, and removing himself from the report’s narrative.
“[Mundy] wanted his name taken off, because he didn’t want to be part of the litigation going on,” Filbeck said.
The sanctions against Filbeck include concealing destroying or altering evidence, including the original Jan. 30 report and the camera, which documented the incident. Additionally, Filbeck is facing sanctions for concealing an officer’s identity.
Filbeck was ordered to pay the plaintiff’s costs and attorney’s fees for filing the motion, the affidavit states.
Filbeck told 5NEWS he was reimbursed for some of the property which was taken during the foreclosure.
