Ex-Carthage police chief charged with embezzlement

Former Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie and his wife have been indicted on embezzlement charges in separate cases, authorities said Wednesday.

Chris McKenzie is accused of using a town credit card to rack up personal purchases in May and July 2011. He also faces charges in the alleged use of filling his own car with gas from Moore County-owned pumps.

Allison McKenzie is charged with stealing more than $350,000 between 2005 and last year from a local dentist's office where she worked. The money was cash payments from patients that were never deposited in the office's bank accounts, authorities said.

Chris McKenzie served as police chief in Carthage from 2002 until he resigned a year ago. He gained national attention in March 2009 when one of his officers stopped a shooting rampage at the Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center in town, where several patients were killed.