GA cop reinstated after appealing termination for arresting innocent drivers
Commerce Police Officer Cody Wood is back on the force pending the appeal of his termination. He remains on leave with pay.
COMMERCE, Ga - A Commerce cop fired for repeatedly charging innocent people with DUI is now fighting to regain his job.
Cody Wood filed his appeal with the city late last month. He’s been put back on paid leave per city policy until his case is resolved.
"It is clear that the failure of the Commerce Police Department to follow its own rules and regulations resulted in an illegal termination of my client," attorney Steven Leibel wrote in the appeal. "I am making an immediate demand for reinstatement to his former position with pay."
No date has been set to rule on Wood's appeal.
Wood only started his law enforcement career on June 20, 2022. He quickly became the primary officer involved in drunk driving arrests in Commerce, making 69 DUI cases in 2023. That's twice as many as the rest of the department combined.
A FOX 5 I-Team analysis of his arrests found that he took people to jail despite no evidence of drugs or alcohol in the car, drivers who insisted they were sober.
Blood tests ultimately cleared some -- others also saw charges dropped -- but not before they spent hundreds of dollars with bail bonding companies and attorneys.
Wood was terminated February 20. Police Chief Kenneth Harmon wrote "on December 30th Lt. Chris Holly ordered you to curtail your elective enforcement action with regard to DUI unless it was absolutely necessary while a review of your arrests is conducted. You failed to adhere to direction and limit your activity by continuing to make DUI arrests, which upon review were not necessary to promote public safety."
By then, some had already been exonerated. Others couldn't clear their names until last week.
Casey Heaps, 19, was accused of driving under the influence of drugs. Police asked him to do a blood test. It came back clean.
"I thought I was going to lose everything," complained 19-year-old Casey Heaps. Wood pulled him over Dec. 16, 2023, for a burned-out tag light. Heaps was coming home from his job at an Amazon warehouse. There were no drugs in his car. Wood decided he was impaired because he failed the field sobriety test.
"I know I failed," Heaps told the FOX 5 I-Team. "I'm not the best at balance. I'm overweight."
After his arrest, Wood took Heaps to have his blood drawn. Tests on his blood for drugs came back negative. Like dozens of other DUI cases Wood made, this one was dismissed in court. Heaps paid $265 for a bondsman to get him out of jail that worrisome evening.
"I make the most money in my household," he said. "I thought I was going to lose the whole house. My dad and my brother would be homeless."
Meanwhile, the internal investigation into Wood's arrests is still not finished. What's unclear is whether anyone else will be disciplined for allowing so many questionable DUI arrests to take place.