CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County grandmother plans to sue the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office for her wrongful arrest.
The woman, who is Black, says deputies arrested her on a warrant for another woman, who is white.
Nickie Sledge’s attorneys say the 49-year-old was arrested in front of her grandson on Dec. 21, 2024, on elder abuse charges.
Deputies booked her into the Rockdale County Jail and later transferred her to Cherokee County Jail.
They say it was another woman with a similar name who was wanted. The one with the warrant spelled her first name differently though, and she was 6 years younger.
One other important factor: the warrant said the wanted woman was a different race.
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Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who Sledge has hired to represent her, says it was either “negligence and carelessness” by investigators or “it was deliberate.”
“Let’s be clear. There was a full investigation, a signed warrant, one arrest, two strip searches at two different jails, multiple days in custody and a bond hearing, and no one bothered to notice that a 49-year-old Black grandmother from Georgia who’d never been in trouble with the law before wasn’t the same woman as a 43-year-old white suspect from Kentucky,” Daniels said.
She had to go before a judge, who took one look at the warrant and expressed concern.
“He says it says on here family violence. He said, ‘Well, I can clearly see she ain’t related,’” Sledge said.
Even though the charges are dropped, she is concerned the arrest may follow her.
“This is a record that won’t disappear,” Sledge said. “It’s gonna follow me the rest of my life.”
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The charges against Sledge were dismissed in February 2025, according to court documents.
The lawsuit has not yet been filed. Channel 2 Action News is working to confirm if the other woman was ever charged.
Channel 2 Action News also reached out to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office for a statement. A spokesman replied that the office does not comment on potential or pending litigation.
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