SHIELDS OF SHAME | CHEROKEE COUNTY CASE FILE | UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Nicholas Noah Glass: Cherokee Deputy Exonerated in 2024 Complaint, Later Honored After Deadly 2025 Encounter
An in-depth records review of internal investigation 2024-00045, the agency’s body-camera finding, Georgia POST certification history, the October 2025 officer-involved shooting and subsequent 2026 legislative commendation.
Cherokee County investigated the 2024 improper-touching allegation and determined the evidence did not establish misconduct. This page does not characterize the allegation as proven.
What happened at the Atlanta airport
On September 9, 2024, Deputy Glass was assigned to return a woman in custody to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center following an encounter with federal personnel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. While Glass applied waist chains and handcuffs, the woman objected to the handling of the restraints and alleged that the back of his hand touched her left breast.
The complaint was reported through Corporal Steven McClure and forwarded to Captain James D. Cox in the Office of Professional Standards. The allegation concerned an alleged inappropriate touch during a custodial restraint procedure. It was an allegation requiring investigation, not an established finding of sexual misconduct.
Glass’s response and the internal investigation
Glass denied touching the woman’s breast. According to the investigative summary published in the existing SOS case file, he acknowledged hearing the complaint while restraints were being applied but said he did not regard it as significant at that moment because of the woman’s earlier behavior. He also reported no previous contact with her.
Investigators examined the body-worn camera recording covering the encounter and subsequent transportation. The Sheriff’s Office concluded the video did not show the intentional or inappropriate contact alleged. The review described Glass’s conduct as respectful and courteous and acknowledged that any incidental contact during the restraint process would not necessarily amount to misconduct.
Final disposition: EXONERATED. The agency closed the case without further action. This is the Sheriff’s Office’s administrative conclusion, not a judicial verdict. Readers can review the original eight-page investigative file below.
Primary evidence: all eight pages of IA 2024-00045
The complete redacted Internal Affairs document is provided as a separate PDF, with each of its eight pages also reproduced below as an image. These are the same investigation, not eight separate complaints. Document buttons open in new tabs; no PDFs are embedded.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Select image to open the full-resolution record in a new tab.
Georgia POST certification and training history
The Georgia POST officer profile provided with this investigation records Glass’s employment beginning as a Cherokee County jailer on May 2, 2022, and his transfer to deputy sheriff on August 29, 2023. The SOS review of that profile describes active basic law-enforcement and jailer certifications, good standing and no listed POST sanctions or POST investigations as of the profile’s reporting date.
The profile documents law-enforcement training including firearms, defensive tactics, de-escalation, community policing, mental health, investigations and field training. A clean POST sanction listing is not the same thing as an absence of all local complaints. Likewise, the certification profile is a historical snapshot and should not be treated as a live status check.
October 25, 2025: unrelated welfare check and fatal shooting
A separate and later incident put Glass in statewide news coverage. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that Cherokee County deputies went to a residence on Whisperwood Trail in Acworth at about 7 p.m. on October 25, 2025, to conduct a welfare check. Investigators said 26-year-old Andre Alvear briefly spoke with deputies at the door, closed it, then reopened it and attacked a deputy with a knife, injuring the deputy’s face.
According to the GBI’s preliminary account, Alvear pursued the deputy as he retreated. Both deputies fired their weapons, killing Alvear. Officers subsequently discovered a deceased woman upstairs. One injured deputy received hospital treatment and was released. The GBI announced an independent investigation and said its findings would be submitted to the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit district attorney for review.
The GBI’s initial public release did not identify the deputies. However, the later Georgia legislative commendations explicitly identify Nicholas Glass and Anthony Pacifico as the deputies who encountered the life-threatening attack. The 2025 shooting is wholly separate from the exonerated 2024 airport complaint. SOS has not verified a final district attorney decision in the shooting investigation.
February to April 2026: legislative recognition
On February 12, 2026, the Georgia House adopted HR 1367 recognizing and commending Deputy Nicholas Glass. A companion resolution, HR 1368, honored Deputy Anthony Pacifico. The Cherokee County government’s April 2026 Board of Commissioners update independently records state proclamations presented to both deputies. Local news coverage also photographed Glass among Sheriff’s Office employees recognized at a county meeting.
These recognitions are subsequent public career developments. They do not revise the 2024 Internal Affairs finding or establish the ultimate legal outcome of the 2025 shooting.
GEORGIA HOUSE HR 1367 ↗CHEROKEE COUNTY UPDATE ↗LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE ↗
Documented timeline
May 2, 2022 | Glass joins Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office as a jailer
August 29, 2023 | Transfers to deputy sheriff
September 9, 2024 | Airport restraint incident
September 10, 2024 | Complaint and formal investigative notice
September 11, 2024 | Agency review recommends exoneration
October 25, 2025 | Separate Acworth welfare check, knife attack and fatal deputy shooting
October 28, 2025 | GBI publicly announces its investigation
February 12, 2026 | Georgia House adopts commendation HR 1367
April 2026 | Cherokee County publicly reports proclamations presented to Glass and Pacifico
Outstanding records and unanswered questions
The current public record reviewed for this article does not establish the final district attorney determination in the October 2025 shooting, whether additional body-camera footage has been publicly released, or whether any subsequent POST entry changes the certification profile provided. SOS will update these items when new records can be verified.
A separate public-records archive lists a Nicholas Glass handcuff video and a 911 call. Those recordings have not been independently reviewed for this article and are not characterized here as proving or disproving any allegation.
More Cherokee County investigations
Explore other Cherokee County investigations in the SOS archive. Findings differ from case to case; the existence of another officer’s disciplinary finding does not establish wrongdoing by Glass.
CHARLES MILLS / NATASHA LOPEZ ↗LUCAS PINTO ↗BROWSE ALL SOS CASES ↗
Editorial standards and public records methodology
Shields of Shame publishes original documents alongside reporting so readers can distinguish complaints, investigative summaries, administrative findings, criminal allegations, legal outcomes and subsequent career events. The 2024 complaint against Glass was exonerated by Cherokee County. The October 2025 shooting is a separate incident described using the GBI’s preliminary release and later legislative records. The agency’s preliminary account is attributed rather than presented as an independent reconstruction.
Sources: Cherokee County IA 2024-00045; Georgia POST profile supplied by SOS; GBI October 28, 2025 release; Georgia House HR 1367 and HR 1368; Cherokee County April 2026 public meeting update; Cherokee Tribune coverage. Last editorial research review: October 8, 2026.