Former officer accused of stealing money from White Lake Police Dept.

WHITE LAKE, NC (WECT) - A man from Bladen County has been indicted for stealing money while he was an officer at the White Lake Police Department.

Christopher Terry Fell, a Sergeant and Investigator within the department, was indicted by a grand jury on August 4, 2014 on charges of embezzlement by a local or charitable officer or employee, obstruction of justice and embezzlement by local or charitable officer or employee.

The documents allege the first count of embezzlement occurred in between the dates of August 20, 2012-August 26, 2013.

The second count of embezzlement allegedly occurred between August 26, 2013 and September 27, 2013.

According to the indictment documents, Fell  is accused of embezzling $1,830,  which was property belonging to the town of White Lake, North Carolina. Fell held the position of police officer and had been entrusted with the property.

The indictment says Fell is accused of putting the money into a White Lake Department Special Fund prior to an annual audit to avoid detection of his embezzlement.

Chief Smith of the White Lake Police Department would not say how the department discovered the money was missing, but did say there is policy in place to avoid this type of crime within the department.

Smith also said Fell resigned from the department shortly after the incident occurred almost a year ago.

The District Attorney called the SBI to investigate the incident. The SBI turned their findings to the DA's office and Fell was indicted by a grand jury on August 4.

According to the DA's office, Fell was using the department money as a personal bank account, borrowing money and attempting to pay it back.

The Bladen County Sheriff's office said he was never booked in the Bladen County Jail and there is no mug shot on file.

Fell's next court date is in October.

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