NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Fall Branch-based state trooper who was arrested last month has been fired after an internal investigation, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Trooper Nicholas Collins was placed on discretionary leave on Feb. 17 after the highway patrol learned that an order of protection had been issued against him. The trooper was served with a termination notice on March 3.
Collins was arrested after Sullivan County deputies responded to a vandalism complaint at a home on Feb. 20. Investigators said he cut security camera wires and slashed tires, and a witness told deputies Collins had threatened to kill the victim. He was charged with vandalism and violating an order of protection.
He was then arrested on Feb. 25 for violating the order of protection again, according to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s policy is to warn, suspend, demote or dismiss any employee whenever just or legal cause exists,” the highway patrol said in a release. “Employees shall not commit any act that would reflect discredit upon themselves or the department while on or off duty.”
Collins was a trooper with THP’s Fall Branch district, which serves 14 Northeast Tennessee counties.
