Hartford Police Chief steps down

A federal judge recently dismissed the town of Hartford and the Hartford police chief from a pending lawsuit filed by two Dale County men who previously faced conspiracy to commit murder charges.

Jim Pike, who represents the town of Hartford and Hartford Police Chief Nick Finer, said Federal District Court Judge Mark Fuller issued the order Thursday that dismissed all the claims filed against his clients.

Fred and Garret Daniels of Pinckard filed the lawsuit against several parties, which included the Dale County Commission, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson, the city of Hartford, Hartford Police Chief Nick Finer and attorney Bryant “Buddy” Williams.

Pike said Finer also turned in his two-weeks notice within the past week as the police chief of Hartford.

“This was not a settlement, there was no money paid, period,” Pike said. “There was no condition that he leave law enforcement. The dismissal of the lawsuit is entirely unrelated to his resignation.”

Pike said Finer turned in his resignation, and a few days later the Daniels through their attorney agreed to drop his clients from the lawsuit. The Daniels filed the federal lawsuit last month, and Pike submitted his client’s response last week.

“His department initially launched the investigation, but by the time the charges were filed his department was no longer involved,” Pike said. “They did not make the decision to file charges.”

Finer referred all comments about his change of employment to his attorney.

Pike said he was hired to represent Finer and the city of Hartford. He said Finer’s resignation had nothing to do with the action taken in the lawsuit.

Finer had served as the Hartford police chief since May 2007. He served as a law enforcement officer for 16 years, which included a year each as police chief in Sisseton, S.D., and Kinston.

“He has decided to go into business for himself, I believe in woodworking,” Pike said.

The two men who filed the lawsuit, Fred Daniels, 67, and his son, Garret Daniels, 40, were each held in the Dale County Jail for nearly two months on a $3 million cash bond each. They were each charged with multiple felony counts of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit assault, including a judge and lawyer. The charges were dismissed in April by District Attorney Kirke Adams.

The lawsuit filed by the Daniels remains pending against Dale County, Olson, and Williams. The multi-million lawsuit allegations include defamation and false arrest.