One of the now-former officers was arrested for battery after allegedly exposing his genitals and grabbing a victim. The other was arrested for grand theft.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A police officer and a corrections officer are no longer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after being arrested, the agency announced Tuesday.
In a news conference, Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey identified the two as now-former corrections officer Taaron Clayton, 25 and a now-former police officer Nicholas Hicks, 46.
Clayton was arrested by JSO Integrity Unit detectives for misdemeanor battery on Dec. 30, 2025, Coarsey said, after the agency received a complaint that he had exposed his genitals to a victim and grabbed their hips while on duty.
The date of the actual alleged crime and the circumstances were not immediately clear. First Coast News is working to obtain a report detailing his arrest.
Because he had only been employed by JSO for nine months and was still in his probationary period, the agency fired him following the arrest. Clayton’s arrest was the seventh of a JSO employee by the agency in 2025.
Hicks, a nearly 10-year veteran of the agency, was arrested on Tuesday morning for felony grand theft and official misconduct following a months-long investigation by the integrity detectives.
In June 2025, detectives received information that Hicks received thousands of dollars for working a secondary job at a local hospital, but was “failing to consistently remain on hospital property” during his shifts.
From June to Dec. 30, 2025, Coarsey said that Hicks worked more than 40 shifts at the hospital, but was absent for more than 52 hours of those. He allegedly received more than $2600 for the “work.”
Upon arrest, Hicks immediately resigned.
Hicks’ is the second known arrest of a JSO employee in 2026. A longtime patrol officer was arrested on Jan. 2 for DUI by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and was subsequently reassigned as the investigation began.
“Our collective belief in openness, transparency and accountability outweighs any personal allegiance to JSO employees,” Coarsey said. “No one is above the law.”