The police chief is out in Taylortown, but the small-town intrigue in the Moore County community is unlikely to be over.

Chief Timothy Blakeley said Thursday that his attorney told him that state law says a 2-2 Town Council vote Wednesday night plus silence from Mayor Ulysses S.G. Barrett Jr. constitutes a 3-2 vote for a resolution to fire Blakeley.

Blakeley will clean out his desk, but he also will dot all the I’s and cross all the t’s in the administrative process to make sure he gets all his benefits, he said. He also said he will sue the town and has retained attorney John W. Roebuck, Jr.

Meanwhile, all files on homicide and other serious cases will go the State Bureau of Investigation for safe-keeping, the chief said.

The SBI is familiar with Taylortown because SBI agents arrested Barrett Feb. 22 on misdemeanor charges that he violated state laws barring public officers or employees benefiting from public contracts and mayors and councilmen acting as managers.

Barrett is accused of illegally contracting with the town to do work. Blakeley has said projects were unfinished.

Blakeley said the resolution to fire him had four main points:

• The chief did not keep the elected officials informed about some cases.
• He did not park police cruisers in high-profile areas to deter crime.
• He was unprofessional when he told the town it was illegal to operate a John Deer Gator vehicle on public streets.
• He treated the police department as an autonomous entity.

Barrett has refused to speak with the media since his arrest.

Taylortown, which has fewer than 1,000 people, is adjacent to Pinehurst.