ROME, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday the arrest of Cave Spring Police Officer Marvin Armstrong. He faces multiple felony drug charges after a state investigation, the GBI said.
Cave Spring's Chief of Police Greg Webb said the officer has been placed on administrative leave.
Arrest warrants detail the 35-year-old attempting to purchase fentanyl, methamphetamine, and Percocet on multiple dates in November and most recently this past Saturday.
According to the GBI, Armstrong and a second man participated in multiple drug transactions in Rome, Georgia, and the surrounding areas. That second individual was also arrested Monday.
The arrests are the result of a multi-agency investigation led by the GBI.
Armstrong's state law enforcement record details his career in Georgia, including completing drug investigations training himself in April.
He was hired in 2014 by the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office as a jailor and was promoted the next year to the position of corporal jailor and later officer that same year.
In 2017, he began a second law enforcement position as a part-time officer with the Summerville Police Department.
A 2018 Facebook post from the Chattooga County Sheriff's Office shows Armstrong receiving the agency's Officer of the Year Award from Sheriff Mark Schrader.
Armstrong's law enforcement record though also shows he was terminated by both Chattooga County and Summerville this past August.
"He was terminated for failure to complete duties associated with his job description.," Schrader wrote 11Alive by e-mail Tuesday.
Summerville Police Chief Harold Tucker sent 11Alive a statement describing Armstrong's employment with his department on an "as-needed" basis meaning he covered shifts when a full-time employee was on leave and the last shift he worked was in March of 2020.
"In August of 2022 the department learned that Armstrong was being terminated by his primary employer, the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office," Tucker wrote. "Our department felt that retaining an employee who had been terminated by our local Sheriff, who we work closely with, would reflect negatively on our agency in the public’s eyes.
Days after being fired from Chattooga County and Summerville he was hired by the Cave Spring Police Department.
As of Tuesday evening, Armstrong is being held in the Floyd County Jail, where county sheriff's office records show he is being held without bond.
Armstrong's future in law enforcement hasn't yet been decided, according to Webb.
"Per the City of Cave Spring's personnel policies, Mr. Armstrong has been placed on administrative leave pending a determination on his employment status," Webb wrote. "That determination will be issued in the next few days, in accordance with the City's policies. Until that determination is issued, we will withhold from providing any further comments regarding Mr. Armstrong's employment with the City."