ACCUSED LUMBERTON POLICE OFFICER RESIGNS

LUMBERTON - A police officer who was accused of planting evidence on a
suspected drug dealer resigned Tuesday.

The former officer, James Jordan, was placed on administrative leave in
January. Jordan and Lt. Leon Oxendine, who also was placed on leave, were
being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Lumberton police Chief Robert Grice refused comment on Jordan's
resignation. He referred questions to James Moore, the city's human
resources director.

District Attorney Johnson Britt, who had been out of town, said he didn't
know that Jordan had resigned.

He said the allegation against Jordan and Oxendine came as a result of an
undercover federal investigation late last year involving the State Bureau
of Investigation, FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency.

Britt said a task force was working undercover at a Lumberton motel when
Oxendine, Jordan and other officers came to the motel with a search warrant.

"As a result, it blew the investigation," Britt said. "The (federal and
state officers) questioned the target in a debriefing. He made allegations
that the Lumberton police officers had planted evidence in a house where he
was arrested previously."

Britt said he looked at the man's file and found a computer disk, which the
man said the officers had planted. Britt would not say what was on the disk.

"Because of the unusual nature, I asked the SBI to investigate," Britt said.

The investigation is continuing.

Jordan had worked for the city since August 2001. He was a member of the
city's selective enforcement team, five officers trained to work in
high-crime, drug-infested areas.

Oxendine, who commands the unit, has worked at the department since 1978.
Neither man could be reached for comment Friday.