Former Habersham Deputy Pleads Not Guilty in Flash Bang Grenade Case

The Associated Press is reporting that a former Habersham County deputy sheriff has entered a “not guilty” plea to charges of providing false information to get a warrant that led to a botched raid in which a toddler was critically injured.

U.S. attorneys said 29-year-old Nikki Autry of Clarkesville, a former Habersham County deputy sheriff and special agent of the Mountain Judicial Circuit NCIS team has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of providing false information in a search warrant affidavit and providing the same false information to obtain an arrest warrant.

The federal indictment alleged that Autry knowingly provided false information to a Habersham County magistrate judge, who then issued a “no-knock” search warrant for a Cornelia residence as part of a drug investigation.

The warrant obtained by Autry was executed during the early morning hours of May 28, 2014.

It was during the execution of that warrant when a Habersham County deputy sheriff tossed a flash bang grenade into a side door of the residence, landing in a room where an 18-month-old toddler was sleeping.

The grenade landed inside the toddler’s playpen and critically injured him.

According to the Associated Press report, attorney Jeff Brickman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Autry never intentionally misled the judge who signed a no-knock warrant that led to a member of a task force throwing a flash grenade into a home.