[NC] Chief Pope and wife Kimberly arrested after domestic

NC POLICE CHIEF CHARGED WITH ASSAULT RETIRING FayObserver.com, NC
July 29, 2008
The police chief in Knightdale will retire after he and his wife were charged with assault in a domestic incident. Mayor Russell Killen said Monday he talked with Ricky Pope and they agreed the police chief should retire immediately. Pope is a 29-year law enforcement veteran who planned to retire in February. Killen says Pope has enough vacation and sick time to receive full retirement benefits. The 49-year-old Pope and his 38-year-old estranged wife, Kimberly Pope, were charged with assaulting each other early Monday. Wake County deputies say he is charged with assault on a female. She is charged with simple assault. They were released Monday afternoon on bond of $1,000 each. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported they are in the midst of a divorce. [Source]

KNIGHTDALE POLICE CHIEF STEPS DOWN FOLLOWING ARREST Police chief Richard Pope and wife, Kimberly Smith Pope
WRAL
Posted: Jul. 28 2008.
[Excerpts] The town of Knightdale has accepted police Chief Richard Nelson Pope's request for early retirement, Mayor Russell Killen said during a news conference Monday afternoon... Reading from a prepared statement, Killen said the police chief "greatly regrets the incident and the embarrassment that it has caused both his family and the town." In a 911 call released Monday afternoon, Pope tells the operator his ex-wife "just came in and wrecked my house." She is yelling in the background, and at one point, screams: "Don't grab me. Leave me alone. Quit grabbing my arm, Ricky Pope."
"I need somebody here quick," Kimberly Pope says in another 911 call, adding that she has locked herself in her car out in her ex-husband's driveway. "I've got marks on my arms and stuff, where he hit me," she says. Kimberly Pope also tells the 911 dispatcher she walked in on her ex-husband with another woman. She told WRAL News the woman was another town employee, and Killen said the city attorney is looking into whether any policies have been violated... His retirement is effective immediately, but it is unclear whether he will be entitled to full retirement benefits... "Chief Pope served the citizens of Knightdale well for over 25 years," Killen said. "We are all disappointed that his tenure with the Knightdale Public Safety Department has ended in this fashion, but we are all glad that the town and Chief Pope can move forward from this point." [Full article here]