A Roseboro police captain has been arrested on a felony charge for allegedly using town funds to purchase a transmission for a vehicle not owned by the town or its police department.
Capt. Tony Surles, of the Roseboro Police Department, turned himself in to investigators at the Sampson County Law Enforcement Center Monday. He was charged with obtaining property by false pretenses, a felony offense.
Authorities said the arrest was the culmination of a two-month joint investigation by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office. The probe was conducted at the request of the Roseboro Board of Commissioners.
“The town board, through our attorney, requested an investigation into some alleged inconsistencies in our town policies and procedures,” Roseboro mayor Roland Hall said when reached by phone Monday night.
According to sheriff’s officials, the investigation was initiated after town officials discovered that a false purchase order number from the town of Roseboro was used to obtain a vehicle transmission for a style of vehicle that is not in the town’s fleet.
The mayor said the decision was made by the town board “to seek out whatever agency was appropriate to conduct the investigation.”
The Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation and discussed the case with the District Attorney’s Office before obtaining a warrant on Surles.
“After conducting interviews and examining evidence collected, investigators consulted with District Attorney Dewey Hudson, who decided that sufficient probable cause was available to charge Surles,” a press release from the Sheriff’s Office stated.
Upon turning himself in, Surles was administratively processed at the Sampson County Detention Center Monday evening and released under a $500 unsecured bond.
Surles served in an interim capacity as police chief for a short time in 2006 before Preston Howell Jr. was hired to the chief’s post. Later that same year, then-chief Howell promoted Surles from sergeant to captain, a position in which Surles has served since then.
Hall said Monday night that he could not speak to any additional disciplinary action that would be taken by the town of Roseboro in light of the felony charge against Surles.
“I’m not in a position where I can make any comment on that right now,” Hall said. “The board is not in session until tomorrow night (Tuesday).”
The Roseboro mayor said board members would likely discuss the issue at that time.
“We will deal with that, probably in closed session because it is a personnel matter,” said Hall.
2 comments:
I went to school (college) with Tony and he cheated constantly. He was working for Roseboro Police Department at the time. I couldn't believe he was actually in law enforcement. He was the kind of individual that lacked character and consequently reaped a just reward.
You've got cops murdering unarmed citizens and they string him up over a transmission. I'll bet this has little to do with the money, just an excuse for this hit job.
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