Mike Maberry

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information.

The arrest of Hawkins’ utility director and the sudden retirement of its police chief are the latest developments in the ongoing political saga in this Wood County town.

Hawkins police arrested City Utilities Director Mike Maberry on Tuesday at City Hall on a misdemeanor charge of interfering with public duties stemming from his attempt to break up a scuffle between a resident and a city police officer during a heated council meeting in November.

No other arrests have been made in the matter, and Maberry claims his arrest was a retaliatory measure.

Also Tuesday, Paul Holland retired as the city’s police chief, making him Hawkins’ third chief to resign in three years. Holland had been on the job about seven months.

The arrest of Maberry and the resignation of Holland came roughly two months after Hawkins resident Todd Eddington and police officer David “Dave” Morris had a physical altercation during the Nov. 22 council meeting.

The incident began when Eddington attempted to speak to the council. Though he hadn’t signed up to speak, other residents had been allowed to do so. Place 3 Alderman Eric Maloy told Eddington he couldn’t speak, but Eddington told Maloy to shut up.

At that point, Morris stepped in front of Eddington, eyewitnesses told the News-Journal. Eddington then tried to step around Morris. The officer tried to make Eddington back up before shoving him, incidentally pushing a woman into a door, witnesses said.

Maberry and others tried to separate Morris and Eddington, Maberry told the News-Journal.

“I was just trying to calm a situation, like anybody,” he said. “It was unnecessary to start with. The officer was way out of line … stepping around the citizen, trying to prevent them from speaking.”

Maberry said he was pushed into a corner during the ordeal, which began in the main council meeting room and ended in a doorway leading to the room. Neither Morris nor Eddington has been charged or arrested in connection with the altercation.

Maberry said he did not touch Morris. He was booked Tuesday into the Wood County Jail after police arrested him at City Hall. He was released Wednesday on $1,500 bond.

While online court records state Maberry was charged with interfering with public duties, Maberry and Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Tony Gilbreath on Wednesday said the warrant stated Maberry was charged with interfering with public utilities — which both said they found strange given that Maberry has been the Hawkins utilities director for 32 years.

On Thursday morning, Gilbreath called the News-Journal and said he had visited the Wood County Jail to see the warrant. After viewing it, he said he misspoke Wednesday and that the warrant listed the correct charge of interfering with public duties, not interfering with public utilities.

“I was 100% wrong,” Gilbreath said.

The News-Journal made multiple attempts Wednesday and Thursday to obtain Maberry’s arrest warrant and probable cause affidavit.

A Hawkins police officer on Wednesday said the department would not produce the documents because the investigation is active, even though they are public records and it’s against state law to withhold such documents.

On Wednesday, the Wood County District Clerk’s Office referred the News-Journal to the district attorney’s office to obtain the documents, and a staffer there referred the newspaper to the county jail. A jail staffer referred the News-Journal to the Pct. 1 justice of the peace, who did not have the documents but offered to obtain them Thursday.

On Thursday morning, the News-Journal spoke with Hawkins Police Detective Dale Lundberg, who said the warrant listed the correct charge, that he had not changed the warrant since it was issued and that he had no ability to change the warrant. He also said the warrant was signed before Maberry was arrested.

“I looked at my probable cause affidavit and my warrant, because there’s multiple places on both of those documents that the charge has to go into,” he said. “And I thought, ‘Well, did I screw up and put it incorrectly on something?’ But it was correct on everything.”

When asked Thursday morning if he would produce the warrant and affidavit, Lundberg said he could not because he was not at the office and that the city doesn’t have an acting city attorney to handle open records requests. He referred the News-Journal to the Wood County Jail.

A call to the Wood County Jail Chief Deputy Chris Turner was not immediately returned Thursday morning.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office provided the warrant and affidavit to the News-Journal on Thursday afternoon via email. In the probable cause affidavit, Lundberg alleges that Eddington started the Nov. 22 scuffle by pushing Morris’ shoulder. At that point, the officer began to push Eddington.

According to the affidavit, Maberry interfered during the altercation by grabbing Morris’ uniform from behind and saying: “Leave him [Eddington] alone; he ain’t done nothing” while Morris was pushing Eddington backwards. Morris tried to push Maberry away, but Maberry refused to comply, according to the affidavit. Maberry positioned himself between the officer and Eddington.

An image from a security camera shows Maberry standing in front of the officer as the two enter the hallway where the scuffle ended. The image appears to show Maberry moving his hand in front of the officer’s chest. The black-and-white image is grainy, and whether Maberry was touching Morris is difficult to determine.

Holland retired as the city’s police chief effective Tuesday. He was hired in June 2024, about two months after his predecessor, Guy McKee, resigned, KETK reported. Holland is a retired law enforcement officer with more than 30 years of experience.

His resignation letter was one sentence long: “Effective immediately, I am retiring from the Hawkins Police Department,” according to a copy of the letter Rushing provided. A call to his work phone Tuesday went unanswered.

Hawkins has been embroiled in political controversy for years, and it has grown in the past year. Since Rushing took office in April 2024, she and council members have sparred over numerous matters, including an investigation into whether Place 5 Alderman Greg Branson signed or co-signed roughly $28,000 in improper checks from the taxpayer-supported Hawkins Community Development Corp. to the private Hawkins Chamber of Commerce.

Branson is president of both organizations, and the police department opened an investigation into whether taxpayer funds were misused to pay for chamber expenses. Holland suspended that investigation late last year, claiming that it was politically motivated by Rushing.

When Holland was hired, Rushing called his employment a “great day for Hawkins.” But their relationship became strained in the following months, in part, because of the investigation into Branson.

While she was still municipal judge, Rushing offered to sign an arrest warrant for Branson based on a probable cause affidavit written by Eddington, a private citizen. Holland said he could not file the affidavit with the district attorney’s office because it wasn’t written by his agency, and he was concerned about how involved Rushing was in the case. He said he refused to serve a warrant signed by Rushing. Rushing said during a council meeting that she wanted to “hurry this thing along.”

Ultimately, Rushing didn’t sign the document, and Branson has not been arrested. Rushing said she believes the case is the reason why the council voted to terminate her from the judge’s position during the November meeting when the scuffle broke out. In December, Rushing and Holland had a heated argument regarding that case and other matters.

The Hawkins City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hawkins City Hall, 200 N. Beaulah St.