Editor's note: This story has been updated with the official statement provided by Interim Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin at Monday's board meeting.
A Hope Mills Police Department major has been fired amid a State Bureau of Investigation probe into a Dec. 12 incident at the police department, the town said Monday.
In a reply to a public records request from CityView, Town Clerk Ashley Wyatt said Major Bradley Rountree’s employment was terminated on Jan. 4.
“Given that the details of the incident are a personnel matter, and the grievance process is still ongoing, we are unable to release any further information at this time,” Wyatt wrote.
Wyatt had yet to respond Monday evening to an email inquiring about what that grievance process was.
The town initially announced on Dec. 22 that Rountree had been placed on administrative leave and that the SBI had been called in as a result of the incident at the police department. Rountree was hired March 1 as a police captain and promoted to major Sept. 1, earning a salary of $75,000, town records show.
Commissioner Bryan Marley and Mayor Jessie Bellflowers previously told CityView that the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners was informed of the investigation six days after the Dec. 12 incident in a closed session.
In a 911 call tied to the incident, a woman reported that a major was discovered unconscious in the bathroom of the police department. The electronic log of the event showed that EMS were first requested at 4:32 p.m., with medics on the scene for just under an hour.
During the board’s Monday meeting, Interim Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin read the same statement that was sent to CityView.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
