Copyright 2006 The News and Observer
By MEILING AROUNNARATH
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
CARRBORO, N.C. — Town Fire Chief Rodney Murray, facing charges of driving while impaired, stalking and other offenses, will retire effective March 1.
In a news conference Monday, Town Manager Steve Stewart announced that Murray had submitted his request for retirement over the weekend.
The fire chief did not return phone calls from The News & Observer on Monday.
Murray has been Carrboro’s fire chief for about 12 years and worked for the Chapel Hill Fire Department for 25 years before that.
He will be on “intermittent leave” until March 1, Stewart said.
In the meantime, Stewart said, he will begin recruiting for a new chief. Deputy Fire Chief Travis Crabtree, who will act as interim chief, said he plans to apply for the job.
Murray, 57, has not yet filed forms to receive his pension. According to the state’s Retirement Systems Division, he could receive half of his current salary annually if he has served a full 30 years or more and if he meets all other requirements. His annual salary, as of February, was $77,776.
In addition, Murray will receive about $163 a month from the Firemen’s and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund since he is a member of the group, according to a division representative.
On Christmas Eve, Murray was arrested on charges of driving while impaired, making harassing phone calls, and failing to stop for police lights and sirens.
A week later, he was charged with misdemeanor stalking. He was released on a $1,500 secured bond.
Murray allegedly made the harassing phone calls to Gina Ambrosecchia. She identified Murray as the suspect, but when a police officer investigating the complaint saw Murray’s black 2003 Jaguar pass by and tried to pull him over, the chief did not stop, police said.
A few hours later, police found Murray in his car in a ditch less than a mile from Ambrosecchia’s house. He was later treated at Duke Hospital for minor injuries.
On Jan. 3, a few days after Murray’s second arrest, Ambrosecchia filed a temporary domestic violence protective order against him. In her filing, she said the two had once dated, and that toward the end of December, he would call her, show up at her house, ring her doorbell and run away.
Murray was convicted of DWI two years before becoming fire chief, and his driver’s license was temporarily revoked, court records show.
Carrboro Personnel Director Desiree White has said Murray has been on intermittent leave since Dec. 12. Before that, he had been on medical leave, recovering from a heart attack in November.
“Chief Murray has had a good career,” Stewart said. “There’s nothing he’s done on the job that’s impacted that career.
“We’re all very appreciative of Chief Murray and his years of service to the community and the state as a whole, and we wish him only the best in his retirement,” he said. “Now is the time for us to move forward.”
Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton echoed the appreciation.
“I appreciate the years of service that Chief Murray put in with the town of Carrboro and with the town of Chapel Hill,” Chilton said over the phone Monday.
Murray has been chief for 12 years.