11/09/2025
Exclusive: 500 Tickets Dismissed After Viral Augusta Deputy’s Cases Vanish From Court Dockets
Once hailed as Augusta County’s TikTok star, the deputy’s ‘curls were poppin’ — but now her cases are droppin’, along with public trust.
By Samuel Orlando | Breaking Through News | November 8, 2025
AUGUSTA COUNTY, VA — Hundreds of traffic tickets issued by a well-known Augusta County deputy — who gained social-media fame on TikTok — were abruptly dismissed in a packed courtroom last month, with Sheriff Donald Smith himself appearing to request the dismissals.
The deputy, Corporal Shamica Spears, issued more than 670 citations between August and October 2025, according to Augusta County General District Court records. On October 27, a total of 524 cases were dismissed in a single day at the request of the Sheriff’s Office.
A source within the department confirmed to Breaking Through News that Spears’ cases were withdrawn amid an ongoing internal investigation into her conduct and traffic enforcement record. The Sheriff’s Office has publicly stated that the matter remains “under review.”
From Viral Fame to Vanishing Cases
Spears rose to local notoriety earlier this year through her TikTok account, “Superstar,” where she frequently appeared in uniform, often filming during or after traffic stops. Her upbeat tone, confident demeanor, and signature line — “Curls are poppin!” — made her something of a regional celebrity.
But fame soon brought controversy. In May, a video circulated online showing Spears mocking a female driver during a stop. Sheriff Donald Smith later acknowledged that her remarks were “inconsistent with the standards we support and adhere to.” Despite the criticism, Spears continued posting through mid-October — until her account went silent, her patrol vehicle was parked behind the Sheriff’s Office, and hundreds of her cases vanished.
A Packed Courtroom and a Sudden Purge
On the morning of October 27, dozens of defendants, attorneys, and clerks packed into the Augusta County General District Court, expecting routine hearings on traffic cases. Instead, attendees watched as Sheriff Smith personally appeared before the bench and moved to dismiss hundreds of tickets tied to Spears’ name.
A court docket reviewed by Breaking Through News lists Spears as the issuing officer on 677 offenses, including:
286 for speeding 10–14 mph over the limit
133 for expired inspections
63 for speeding 15–19 mph over the limit
Of those, 524 were dismissed outright and 151 were prepaid, meaning fines were paid in advance and cases closed without a hearing.
A source inside the Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Spears was placed on administrative leave in late October, describing the mass dismissal as “an effort to clean up a mess before it grew bigger.” The source declined to elaborate but said leadership was “concerned about exposure and possible legal challenges tied to her stops.”
What It Cost Taxpayers
Even routine traffic citations consume significant taxpayer resources — from patrol time to court administration.
Using federal labor data and independent studies on law-enforcement workload, each citation typically involves about 28 minutes of officer time at an average state and local government compensation rate of $63.94/hour, equaling $29.84 in officer labor per citation. For the 524 tickets dismissed, that alone represents ≈$15,600 in officer time.
But that’s only part of the cost.
According to national and state-level estimates, including the Urban Institute and Legal Clarity cost analyses, each traffic case carries an additional $200–$250 in administrative and court processing costs, covering clerks, docket management, notices, data entry, and courtroom staff.
Applying that conservative figure of $226 per citation to the 524 dismissed tickets yields ≈$118,000 in administrative and court costs — pushing the total public burden for these voided cases to roughly $133,000 or more when officer time is included.
“Every ticket is a line item of taxpayer time and money,” said a retired Virginia law enforcement administrator who reviewed the data. “When the sheriff himself comes in to dismiss hundreds of them, that’s not just an internal issue — that’s a fiscal one.”
Experts note that those figures exclude fuel, vehicle wear, IT recordkeeping, or any potential legal costs stemming from internal investigations.
An Officer Offline, a Cruiser Parked
Spears’ last TikTok video, posted October 15, shows her in uniform declaring, “Curls still poppin!” Days later, her patrol car was spotted parked in the Sheriff’s Office’s secured lot, reportedly unused since. Her TikTok account has since been deleted.
Despite repeated inquiries, the Sheriff’s Office has not confirmed whether Spears remains on payroll, or whether state investigators have been brought in.
Transparency on Trial
The Sheriff’s decision to appear in court and dismiss the tickets himself has only heightened scrutiny. Virginia law allows law-enforcement agencies to withdraw cases, but mass dismissals of this scale are virtually unheard of.
“It’s one thing to void a few tickets for clerical reasons,” said a former state prosecutor. “But when the sheriff walks into court and wipes out over 500 cases linked to one deputy, that raises profound questions about oversight, training, and accountability.”
So far, the Sheriff’s Office has limited its public comments to a brief Facebook post, citing “ongoing personnel matters.”
Unanswered Questions
Among the issues now facing the Sheriff’s Office:
What specific reason justified the mass dismissal?
Does Spears remain employed or on paid leave?
Who approved the internal investigation — and is it being conducted independently?
Will Augusta County audit the wasted time and money spent on voided cases?
And if the dismissals were tied to misconduct, will affected drivers be notified or refunded?
Until those questions are answered, the sudden erasure of hundreds of tickets remains one of the most puzzling — and potentially costly — scandals to hit Augusta County law enforcement in years.
Conclusion
Hundreds of tickets are gone. A once-viral deputy has gone silent. The sheriff himself appeared to erase her cases. And taxpayers are left footing the bill.
For Augusta County residents, the question isn’t whether the deputy’s curls are still poppin’ — it’s whether accountability still is.
Once hailed as Augusta County’s TikTok star, the deputy’s ‘curls were poppin’ — but now her cases are droppin’, along with public trust.By Samuel Orlando | B...
