Ex-trooper accused in fatal crash now faces new investigation as Buchanan mayor
BUCHANAN, Ga. - The city of Buchanan in Haralson County hired an outside investigator to look into some recent disturbing behavior by the town’s mayor.
The incidents involve Mayor A.J. Scott’s actions at a Bremen bar and a second encounter with police late one night in a park behind the Buchanan City Hall.
This comes as Scott waits to see whether he’ll be retried for what happened in his previous job: a vehicular homicide arrest due to his actions as a Georgia state trooper.
In 2015, Scott broadsided a car full of teenagers along Highway 27 in Carroll County. The trooper was not responding to a call, but was still driving more than 90 miles per hour when he crossed into a 45-miles-per-hour zone.
He was not running his blue lights or siren.
The other car was heading in the opposite direction and made a left turn just as the trooper crested a hill. The driver said because Scott was driving so fast, he didn't see him until it was too late.
Bella Chinchilla (front) and Kylie Lindsey died in the accident after the car they were riding in pulled into the path of a speeding state patrol car. Trooper A.J. Scott was not responding to a call.
Kylie Lindsey, 17, and her best friend Bella Chinchilla, 16, died in the backseat. The driver and a second person were injured but survived.
Shortly after the accident the Georgia State Patrol fired Scott. In 2019, he finally went to trial on vehicular homicide charges.
But as the jury deliberated, the judge ordered a mistrial, accusing the DA of not disclosing all the evidence to the defense. Both the DA and the judge later recused themselves from the case.
The Georgia Supreme Court has yet to rule whether a special prosecutor from DeKalb County will be allowed to retry Scott.
"We’re just looking for justice for our girls, and we’re going to be in it for the long haul," said Leslie Woods, Bella’s mom.
"It’s really tough to grieve my daughter," said Kylie’s mom Kellie Lindsey. "With everything that continues to happen."
A.J. Scott ran for mayor of Buchanan while still being prosecuted for vehicular homicide. As a state trooper, Scott crashed his unit into a car full of teenagers, killing two.
Shortly after the mistrial, A.J. Scott won a race to be mayor of Buchanan, a town of around 1300 that serves as the Haralson County seat.
That decision always bothered the victims’ families. They say what’s happened since has made it worse.
The sole Buchanan police officer on duty was told to come to this Bremen bar about six miles outside of town late one night. He was there to pick up the mayor because A.J. Scott was "very intoxicated," according to a police report.
According to Buchanan police incident reports obtained by the FOX 5 I-Team, Scott called a Buchanan police officer on Sept. 15 to give him a ride from a Bremen bar.
That bar is about six miles outside of Buchanan. That officer was the lone cop patrolling Buchanan at that time of night.
His report said a bar employee told him "that Mayor Scott was very intoxicated, and they were trying to close the bar, but Scott kept trying to buy alcohol."
After the officer put Scott in the patrol car, he "had to go back in to retrieve the city of Buchanan budget paperwork that Mr. Scott had left at the bar area."
Even worse, the report said a bar employee "said Scott was being rude and got up on the bar and started unzipping his pants."
Other bar employees later told Bremen and Buchanan police officers the mayor did not actually expose himself. He was not arrested.
Buchanan Police Chief Brent Christopher wrote in his report that Scott called him the next day to get a ride back to Bremen to pick up his car. "He had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his person," the chief noted.
A second police incident involving the mayor happened at this park behind city hall. Scott claimed a black SUV had dropped off 8 people to run around the park and someone had a motorcycle. Police found no one. The officer reported Scott had out his p
Twelve days earlier, Sept. 3, 2022, another police report details a call received from Scott in a park behind city hall.
"He was slurring his words," according to the report. "He stated that there was a motorcycle and people everywhere in the park."
The officer wrote "he could locate no one."
"I could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from him, and he was speaking very slurred …. This mayor had his pocketknife out and the blade was open. I was definitely much more cautious since he had his knife out and was seeing people that could not be explained."
The two incidents stunned family members still waiting to see Scott retried for the fatal accident seven years ago.
"I don’t understand how he can go around and do things and hold a mayor position," complained Kellie Lindsey.
Leslie Woods was even more direct.
"He is a time bomb," she said. "He is not fit to be a mayor."
Crash victims' mothers react to police reports of Scott's odd behavior in a Bremen bar and a Buchanan park. They're waiting to see whether Scott can be retried for the deaths of their daughters.
A written statement from the Buchanan City Council said "an internal affairs investigator from another city’s police agency" has been hired to investigate "the mayor’s actions, as well as the actions of the Buchanan PD in handling matters relating to the mayor."
According to the city charter, a majority of the four-person city council can remove the mayor for "incompetence, misfeasance or malfeasance in office," among other reasons.
One of the four council members is related to Scott.
After the November council meeting, the FOX 5 I-Team asked Scott if he had a drinking problem.
"No sir," he answered.
And what about the two encounters with police?
"I would suggest you just wait until the report is complete," Scott said as he closed the door to his SUV and drove off into the night.
Mayor Scott denied he had a drinking problem but would not explain his recent behavior, preferring to wait for the results of an outside investigation.
City attorney Carey Pilgrim promised that outside investigation report will be made public as soon as it is complete.
Here’s the full news release from Buchanan City Council:
"The Buchanan City Council has become aware of certain incidents involving the city’s mayor. These incidents were reviewed and/or responded to by the Buchanan Police Department. Presently, the city is investigating both the actions of the mayor and the reports generated by the Buchanan PD related to these actions.
It is important to note that, with respect to events that were alleged to have occurred within the city of Bremen, those events were investigated as a police matter by the Bremen Police Department. The police reports generated by the Bremen PD clear the mayor of any potential criminal wrongdoing. There is no pending criminal investigation with respect to the mayor.
Because the City of Buchanan takes seriously any allegations made against its elected officials, the city has commissioned an internal affairs investigation into the mayor’s actions, as well as the actions of the Buchanan PD in handling matters related to the mayor. This investigation is an independent investigation, which is being carried out by an internal affairs investigator from another city’s police agency. Because the city is committed to being transparent in all matters, it has produced the incident reports in question to the media, regardless of the fact that the internal affairs investigation is ongoing, and regardless of the fact that the incident reports may be supplemented or clarified once this investigation is done. Additionally, as a further part of the city’s goal of being completely forthright in all matters of public concern, the report of the internal investigator will be made available to the public as soon as the investigation is complete."