The following is release from Prestonsburg Police Department:
On Thursday, February 20, 2025, Chief of Police Ross C. Shurtleff was made aware of a criminal investigation into a Prestonsburg/Floyd County Emergency Communications Center dispatcher, Rebecca Fletcher, of Paintsville.
Paintsville Police Department responded to a shoplifting complaint at Wal-Mart of Paintsville and discovered the theft or attempted theft of over $1,000.00 dollars of merchandise in that store. It was further discovered that Fletcher had allegedly stolen not less than $250.00 from Wal Mart in Prestonsburg. Paintsville Police Officer Darrell Preston notified Prestonsburg Police Chief Ross C. Shurtleff of the case at that point. Following the collection of all evidence, Officer Preston and Chief Shurtleff presented the information to both the Johnson County Attorney Michael Endicott and Floyd County Attorney Keith Bartley, and warrants for Fletcher’s Arrest were signed in each county’s District Court.
Following the issuance of these arrest warrants, Prestonsburg and Paintsville Police Officers placed Fletcher under arrest in a joint effort at her home in Johnson County and she was lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.
Fletcher has been suspended without pay and her security clearance permanently revoked pending the completion of administrative proceedings.
While it is important to remember that individuals are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, it is also important for public servants to heed the higher standard that they are held to, that their personal decisions reflect on an entire public trust, and behavior of this type will not be tolerated by employees of the City of Prestonsburg. This case has been turned over to the Floyd and Johnson Counties Attorney for prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.