A Texas police chief accused of cheating on his wife with two women, neither of whom apparently knew about the other, resigned after he was arrested on suspicion of faking a marriage annulment he showed to one of the girlfriends, officials said.
The city of Stinnett announced Chief Jason Collier's resignation "effective immediately," according to a statement released Thursday.
Collier, 41, was arrested Thursday for investigation of "tampering with a governmental record/with the intent to defraud," which is a felony, said Sgt. Cindy Barkley of the Texas Department of Public Safety, in a statement.
"Collier allegedly sent a text message to the victim with a fraudulent government record attached," Barkley said. "The document was a fraudulent marriage annulment."
Texas Rangers launched a criminal investigation Tuesday at the request of the Hutchinson County District Attorney’s Office, Barkley said.
Cecily Steinmetz of Amarillo, Texas, said in a Facebook post Tuesday that she was Collier's girlfriend until Monday, when she said she found out "Chief Jason Collier is living a double/triple life."
"He lied to me and presented me with fake annulment documents when I found out he was married," Steinmetz wrote. "I also found out about a 2nd girlfriend ... last night. He has lied to us, our children, and asked us both to marry him."
She said she had returned Sunday from a trip with Collier to Taos, New Mexico, and that "his other GF" was told he was on a work assignment in Portland, Oregon, as a cover story for the trip.
"He is a poor representative of your town," Steinmetz said on Facebook, addressing residents of Stinnett. "He would also visit me in Amarillo when he was on shift."
Amarillo is about an hour's drive south of Stinnett. Collier did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
Bond for Collier was set at $10,000, according to Barkley. Online jail records for the Hutchinson County Sheriff's Office did not list Collier as an inmate or someone who had been recently released.
"The investigation is ongoing and no further information is available," Barkley said.
