Harassment case dismissed against Alabama transportation director

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday dismissed a harassment charge against state Transportation Director John Cooper after a neighbor, who accused Cooper of threatening him, said he no longer wanted to pursue the matter.

Prosecutors in Marshall County wrote in a request to dismiss the case that the complainant, “no longer wishes to pursue this matter.” District Judge Mitchell S. Floyd agreed to dismissed the charge. He noted that the case was being dismissed by agreement.

Cooper was arrested last year on a misdemeanor harassment charge. An adjoining landowner, Gerald Carter, told law enforcement officials that during an argument Cooper had threatened to shoot him and beat him. The two men had been in a dispute over Carter’s use of a gravel road to access his property.

Court records indicate Carter contended he had legal use of the easement to access his property. Cooper accused his neighbor of trespassing.

South Sauty Creek Resort, which is owned by Cooper, last year filed a civil lawsuit against Carter. The lawsuit asked the court to declare that the resort is the rightful owner of the land and that Carter did not have use of an easement.

Cooper, 76, has been the director of the Alabama Department of Transportation since 2011. The 4,000-employee state agency builds and maintains highways, roads and bridges in the state, He is a member of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s cabinet.