Local News

Oxford Police Chief's Administrative Assistant Fired

Posted Updated
Sharon Iglesias
OXFORD, N.C. — An administrative assistant who raised concerns that Oxford's police chief was wrongly taking money from a drug fund was fired Wednesday, WRAL has learned.

Two weeks ago, Sharon Iglesias spoke with WRAL about her concerns that Oxford Police Chief John Wolford improperly took hundreds of dollars over a nearly three-year period from a drug fund.

As his administrative assistant, Iglesias said the transactions required a witness, but that Iglesias would leave notes and take money while she was out of the office.

Wolford told WRAL that he took the money as part of an internal investigation into corrupt officers, but that the investigation turned up nothing. He maintained he did nothing suspicious and that informing anyone prior to the investigation would have jeopardized it.

"I didn't want it to leak that I was checking to see if there were bad cops," Wolford told WRAL on Jan. 9.

City administrators say they thoroughly investigated the case and found no evidence of wrongdoing. They also insist the case was investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation.

The SBI, however, told WRAL that it did not investigate.

The city also says it has new procedures in which the chief can investigate his own officers.

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