A Bainbridge Public Safety officer who had been charged with insurance fraud in July has been reinstated after all of the charges were dismissed, according to Bainbridge City Manager Chris Hobby.

Officer Alton E. Brock Jr. rejoined Public Safety last week and has been assigned to patrol duty, Hobby said.

Public Safety Director Larry Funderburke said Brock was allowed to resume working after he presented a letter from the State of Georgia re-granting him his arrest powers.

Although Brock was suspended without pay in early July, he will retain his former salary and time of service, Hobby said.

Brock and his mother’s company, Southern Companies Staffing Agency, had been under investigation by the Georgia Board of Workers’ Compensation Enforcement Division.

Charges against Brock’s mother, Martha Love of Bainbridge, were also dismissed, according to the office of District Attorney Joe Mulholland.

Mulholland said the state asked to dismiss the charges pending a review of the matter by the federal justice system.

“[Brock] is not facing any additional charges or indictments at this time,” Hobby said. “We have no grounds to deny him employment, and it doesn’t seem fair to deny him of his livelihood based on something that may not happen.”

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Brock worked as a BPS patrolman from 1997-2003 before serving for three years as a deputy commander of the Pataula Circuit Drug Task Force. In August 2006, Brock returned to BPS after being hired as an investigator.