A Leland Police Department sergeant resigned last week after berating a Navassa officer for making a stop just inside Leland’s borders, town officials said Tuesday.
During the evening of Oct. 27, a Navassa police officer made a traffic stop on South Navassa Road, just inside Leland’s town line, when Sgt. Anthony Nathan and two other Leland police officers responded to provide backup.
“The Navassa officer was trying to issue a citation, and Sgt. Nathan kept on questioning why he stopped the vehicle, saying this wasn’t an isolated incident,” said Mike James, Leland’s police chief.
Navassa police officers have jurisdiction for a mile outside of the town’s line, an area which includes the South Navassa Road area where the stop was made.
“If the violation occurs in Navassa and the officer pulls a blue light, he’s got a mile’s jurisdiction, and the Navassa officer was not wrong,” James said. “He can’t control where the vehicle is going to stop.”
After being shown a video of the incident taken from a dash cam, Nathan resigned, James said.
Nathan’s personnel record and the video of the incident were not immediately available.