Two former West Alabama police officers have been arrested crimes after they allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in Tuscaloosa in January of this year.

The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit is made up of investigators from several local law enforcement agencies, and in addition to homicides and other crimes of violence, the VCU also handles nearly all allegations of sex crimes in Tuscaloosa County.

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Captain Jack Kennedy, the commander of the VCU, said a woman filed a report with the Tuscaloosa Police Department in January claiming that two men sexually assaulted her after she had been drinking. The victim said she had too much alcohol to willfully consent to sexual activity.

The VCU's Sexual Assault Section investigated the case and ultimately presented their findings to a grand jury earlier this year, who chose to indict the two suspects. Both men, who are former police officers, were arrested and jailed in Tuscaloosa Tuesday.

The first, 49-year-old Craig Baird Arnold, was charged with first-degree rape. Bond was set at $60,000 and Arnold was still jailed Wednesday morning. Kennedy said Arnold was at one time an uncertified reserve officer of the West Blocton Police Department.

He also said Arnold was previously charged with sexual offenses in Bibb Count in March 2016, but Kennedy could not comment further on the old accusations.

The second suspect, Brain Keith Whatley, age 50, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse. Kennedy said he has been released from the county jail on a $5,000 bond.

According to Kennedy, Whatley was at one time in the past the Police Chief in West Blocton.

Kennedy said neither man currently works in law enforcement and any position or role they previously held was not a factor in this sexual assault.

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