The appeal case of four Columbus police officers who lost a month”s salary after a May 5 incident at the Vicksburg National Military Park is scheduled to be heard during the February term of Lowndes County Circuit Court.
The hearing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 26, the last week of the term.
“The parties worked out an agreement to continue the case, and they were given dates to schedule the hearing,” said Circuit Court Administrator Dorothy Langford.
Sixteenth Circuit Judge Lee Howard is scheduled to hear the arguments on behalf of officers Wade Beard, Heath Beard, Robert Walker and Cpl. Spence Wallingford.
He was also scheduled to hear arguments on behalf of the four officers during the November term when the case was continued.
The four were suspended from work for 15 days after being called back from a three-day field sobriety training course in Vicksburg sponsored by the Sobriety Trained Officers Representing Mississippi.
Columbus Police Chief Joseph St. John requested the officers return to Columbus after he received complaints from the military park.
A park ranger and visitors reported the officers, along with a Lowndes County sheriff”s deputy and his fiancée, were riding around in a marked police cruiser with the doors open, flashing its lights and bumping the siren. Additionally, two people were riding in the trunk.
The policemen previously lost an appeal to the Columbus Civil Commission in the matter.
The suspension equates to about a month off and more than $3,000 in pay.
Reasons cited for the officers” suspension were driving without a seat belt, violating standard operation of a city vehicle and conduct unbecoming of an officer.
Wallingford resigned from the department in December, after St. John said he was under investigation for using his patrol car for personal use in a separate incident.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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