FORMER NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH POLICE CHIEF PLEADS GUILTY

N. TOPSAIL BEACH - Former North Topsail Beach Police Chief Daniel R.
Salese pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor larceny and misdemeanor
obstruction of justice charges.

Salese was given a 45 day suspended sentence, placed on supervised
probation for one year, fined $250 plus court costs and must perform
48 hours of community service.

"He also has to surrender his law enforcement certification," said
Onslow County Chief Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee. Salese
addressed District Court Judge Leonard W. Thangard and the court at
the proceeding, saying that he wanted to apologize, that his actions
were unintentional and that he wanted to put the incident behind him
for his wife and kids' sake.

The charges stem from an incident in October when $200 in money from a
drug bust was apparently taken from a police safe and used by Salese
for other purposes.

When the money was discovered missing from the safe the district
attorney was contacted and the State Bureau of Investigation was
called in to investigate.

Salese's lawyer, Walter Vatcher, said the money had been in Salese's
desk and that other officers knew it was there.

The serial numbers from the drug money had been documented by the
department.

When the investigation began, Salese returned $200 to the safe but
they were not the same bills that had been recorded by the police
department. "No money was ever missing from the town," said Alderman
Fred Handy. But using the money erroneously is a crime, said town
officials. "This isn't a case of a good cop gone bad," said Mayor
Rodney Knowles. "This is a case of a young man making a bad decision."
Mayor Knowles acknowledged that $200 could be considered a small
amount of money. "But police are held to a higher standard," he said.
Salese, 40, was charged on Wednesday and tendered his resignation on
Friday. He had been with the town police department since 1992 and had
been chief since 1998.

"Danny has served on the force for 15 years and created a strong
police force. We appreciate what he has done for the town's police
department and in other areas," said Mayor Knowles.

"The town wishes him and his family well. He will be missed," Mayor
Knowles added.

Town Manager Bradley Smith said the town will post the job opening for
police chief sometime this week and possibly keep it posted for 90
days. He said the town would consider hiring from within the police
department or an outside entity.

Captain Casey Fillinger has been named as acting interim police chief.
Fillinger has been with the North Topsail Beach Police Department for
more than 7 1/2 years. Before that he had been a police officer in
Jacksonville since 1995.

He will oversee the 12-man department and work with Smith on the
police budget for the next fiscal year as well as help prepare the
town for the busy tourist season.

Meanwhile, the police department seemingly has not missed a beat,
making seven arrests between Friday and Monday.

Smith said he has "total confidence" in the department and that it
will continue to operate smoothly and professionally.