West Fork police chief resigns

Friday, August 8, 2014

West Fork's police chief resigned Friday amid a possible federal investigation into the city government.

John Collins resigned Friday morning, he and Mayor Charlie Rossetti said.

Collins confirmed his resignation Friday morning but said he was too busy at the moment to give an interview. He didn't return multiple phone calls later Friday.

Rossetti said Collins resigned "under good circumstances" and already had another job lined up.

"We had a good working relationship," Rossetti said. "I don't know if he's been thinking about it for a while or not. It was sudden to me. I hate to lose him."

Collins' announcement came about two months after Denis Dean, a Washington County deputy prosecutor, said the FBI had begun investigating public corruption and environmental complaints against West Fork's government. FBI spokeswoman Deb Green said Friday she couldn't confirm or deny the investigation.

Dean didn't return a phone call Friday requesting comment.

The reported investigation came after the sewage plant there released raw sewage into the White River last April. City officials blamed the 43-year-old water treatment plant’s age and said the amount of waste released was negligible.

Several West Fork officials have resigned in recent years.

Collins became chief under former Mayor Frances Hime, who resigned last November, citing family reasons. Hime's predecessor, Jan Throgmorton, replaced Jeff Baker after he resigned in 2008. Greg Tabor, Fayetteville's police chief, resigned from the town's water department in 2011.

Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misspelled Denis Dean's first name. The error has been corrected.