UPDATE: Former Navassa cop says town is wrongfully withholding pay

NAVASSA, NC (WWAY) — A day after a Brunswick County judge ordered he can keep his K9, former Navassa police officer Kevin Smith says the town is withholding compensation owed to him out of retaliation.

Smith says Navassa Mayor Eulis Willis has a personal vendetta against him after Smith arrested the mayor for drunk driving last year.

Tuesday, Navassa town attorney Norwood Blanchard told WWAY the town did owe Ofc. Smith compensation from when he resigned, but said the check was at Town Hall for Smith to pick up anytime.

John Midgette, spokesman for the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, says Ofc. Smith went to Town Hall to pick up the check Wednesday but staff refused to release it.

“You can charge somebody, you can sue them, but you can’t hold their accrued vacation time that belongs to them,” said Midgette. “This is wrong on many levels, including common sense.”

Midgette says he plans to address the issue at Navassa’s Town Council meeting Thursday night at 7:30 P.M.