NC sheriff tells town to pay for patrols

SPRING LAKE — A North Carolina sheriff whose deputies are patrolling a town whose police department has been stripped of power says he must be paid for the service by July 1.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Friday that Cumberland County Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler told the town of Spring Lake that he will pull extra deputies out if the town doesn’t pay.

Deputies have patrolled the town next to Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base since May when the town police were stripped of power by judicial officials. Two police supervisors had been charged with embezzlement and obstruction of justice and the town’s chief of police resigned.

Butler says without payment the four deputies assigned to the town will be cut to one.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)