UPDATED: Grohn Accused of Stealing Campaign Signs

Theft Charges against Grohn Dropped

On August 15, theft charges against the new incoming District 8 Hamilton County School Board member were dismissed by a judge. The prosecution agreed to dismiss.

According to an email obtained by the Times Free Press, state prosecutor Kevin Allen states the case was dismissed “based on the failure of the state to prove any intent to permanently deprive the Brooks campaign from (their) signs.”

Larry Grohn, the Republican candidate for Hamilton County School Board District 8, was accused of stealing campaign signs last week.

According to an affidavit of complaint, Grohn allegedly removed six campaign signs in the 400 block of South Moore Road on June 10. The signs belonged to John Allen Brooks, who is running for Hamilton County District Attorney.

Katie Perkins, Grohn’s Democratic opponent in the school board race, told police that she witnessed Grohn removing Brooks’ signs.

Grohn is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on July 22.

Grohn told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that his campaign signs were placed in the area between April 29 and May 6. The Brooks’ signs were placed between June 6 and 8 directly in front of Grohn’s. Grohn said he removed two signs that were blocking his own.

If Grohn is convicted of theft, he would still be eligible to run, officials with the Hamilton County Election Commission told the TFP. The charge is a misdemeanor.

Grohn told the TFP that appearing in court was “a ridiculous waste of my time and taxpayer money.”

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.