ATHENS, Tenn. (AP) - A McMinn County Grand Jury refused to indict a former Athens police detective who investigators say confessed to stealing money from a police evidence locker.

Ninth Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson announced the refusal in a statement to The Daily Post-Athenian. Johnson accused the grand jury of either ignoring Bill Matthews' sworn statement about the theft or not indicting him because they felt sorry for him.

An investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury found more than $46,000 in cash and narcotics as well as a handgun had vanished from police custody. Matthews has admitted to stealing at least $8,900 of that.