Crime & Safety
Canton's Assistant Police Chief Fired
"It is my understanding that the City Manager had no input or role in deciding to terminate Mr. Vande Zande, and therefore the purported basis for any legal claim would not be true," the city attorney said.
Todd Vande Zande, who temporarily took the helm of the Canton Police Department after the agency faced widespread criticism for its role in the search of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, was fired today.
"I have confirmed that Todd Vande Zande’s employment was terminated today," city attorney Bobby Dyer wrote in an email to Canton-Sixes Patch.
, Atlanta lawyer Lance J. LoRusso said in a letter to the mayor, the city manager, the new police chief and all six members of the Canton City Council.
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Dyer said he has received a copy of the letter and refuted LoRusso's claim that Vande Zande's ouster was retaliation for his failure to comply with several requests from City Manager Scott Wood.
"It is my understanding that the City Manager had no input or role in deciding to terminate Mr. Vande Zande, and therefore the purported basis for any legal claim would not be true," Dyer said. "Because legal action has been threatened, it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further about the particular allegations made in the attorney’s letter."
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LoRusso said if Vande Zande was terminated, he would "immediately seek injunctive and other relief through the Superior Court of Cherokee County against the City of Canton and individually against Wood and Merchant" on Vande Zande's behalf.
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