Brookford Police Chief Indicted By Catawba County Grand Jury

Brookford Police Chief Willie Armstrong turned himself in to authorities in Catawba County Wednesday afternoon after a grand jury indicted him on charges that he destroyed evidence in a criminal case.

Those charges include altering or destroying criminal evidence and willful failure to discharge his duties.

Armstrong has been placed on Paid Administrative Leave.

Grand Jury indictments say Armstrong failed to preserve evidence in an audio recording he’s accused of making in a more than 30-year-old cold case homicide of Dee Dee Dawkins. The 13-year-old’s body was found along the Henry Fork River in Brookford in 1992.

Armstrong said he believes the investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation is politically motivated and that agents executed the search warrant shortly after he announced plans to run for Sheriff of Catawba County.

Armstrong is scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursday in Newton.

Photo: Hickory Daily Record