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A Texas police chief reportedly resigned after being arrested and placed on administrative leave amid accusations on social media about his allegedly dubious personal life.
“Police chief Jason Collier resigned his post immediately in the city of Stinnett,” published Durk Downs, the city manager, on the city’s Facebook page on Thursday night. “The city has accepted his resignation. In accordance with city policy, we will not comment on his personal affairs.”
On Tuesday, Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the Texas Department of Public Security addressed the issue in a statement to the local media.
“Collier reportedly sent a text message to the victim with a fraudulent government record attached. The document was a fraudulent marriage annulment,” said Barkley, according to KAMR-TV in Amarillo, Texas.
After Collier’s arrest on Thursday, he was accused of tampering with a government document with the intent to defraud, a crime in state prison, Barkley told the station. He was held on a $ 10,000 bond.
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The sergeant’s statement appeared to coincide with a recent Facebook account posted by a woman who claimed to have been the former police chief’s girlfriend.
In the now viral post, Cecily Steinmetz, a resident of Amarillo, claimed that Collier was “living a double / triple life” with a wife and several brides – marking the city page of Stinnett on Facebook.
“I was his girlfriend until yesterday. He lied to me and presented me with false annulment documents when I found out he was married. I also found out about a second girlfriend, Kristi, last night,” she wrote. “He lied to us, our children, and asked us to marry him. He is a poor representative of his city.”
Steinmetz’s post included a photo of what she claimed was a fake marriage annulment document.
On Thursday, the KAMR reported that Judge Doug Woodburn of the 108th District Court confirmed that the annulment document was false.
Steinmetz told the station that he posted his Facebook account so that “this will not happen to any other woman in the future”.
“I just hope he has learned his lesson, so as not to deceive people like that,” she told KAMR.
Steinmetz’s post received tens of thousands of likes, comments and shares.
In addition, a Facebook group called “Victims of Jason Collier” was created and brought together more than 4,000 followers.
A 42-second video posted to the group appears to show Collier apologizing, although it is not clear why he was apologizing and to whom.
Collier, 41, was appointed chief in February 2020, after serving as a police sergeant in the Borger Police Department, according to Amarillo’s KFDA-TV.
The agency also reported that Collier received the Texas State Medal of Valor after 21 years of police experience and that he was married and had four children, as well as an ordained minister.
Neither the Stinnett Police Department nor the city of Stinnett acknowledged the complaints against Collier, citing confidentiality regarding personal matters.
On Wednesday, Downs had posted that city officials were “aware of the current situation surrounding police chief Jason Collier”.
“The city is taking this seriously and will investigate any violations of city policy,” he wrote. “Chief Jason Collier has been placed on administrative leave while the city investigates possible violations of the city’s employment policy.”
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Although city officials did not specify what “violations” were investigating in relation to Collier, Stinnett Mayor Colin Locke confirmed that there was a “possible violation of city policy”, according to MyHighPlains.com.
ABC7 Amarillo reported on Wednesday that the Stinnett Police Department Facebook page appeared to have been disabled or deleted.
Fox News contacted the Stinnett Police Department, Collier and Downs for comment, but received no response.