By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
HUNTSVILLE — A retired Huntsville police officer who once led the city’s Crime Stoppers program has been indicted after investigators said he took more than $25,000 intended for community tipsters.
Charles Nathan Nickelson, 60, of Madison County, faces one count of using his office for personal gain, a Class B felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The indictment, announced Friday by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, accuses Nickelson of diverting as much as $25,525 from the non-profit account he managed as Crime Stoppers coordinator.
Nickelson retired from the Huntsville Police Department in August 2024. Shortly after, department officials said they uncovered accounting discrepancies in the Crime Stoppers fund. HPD said it immediately alerted the non-profit’s board of directors before referring the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for an independent investigation.
Nickelson was taken into custody Thursday and later released on $10,000 bond. The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division.