The Westchester Rockland Journal News reported Friday the Village of Pelham Manor spent over $11,000 on the inquiry that preceded the sudden resignation of Police Chief Jeffrey Carpenter over Memorial Day weekend, according to the Westchester Rockland News, which said it obtained the costs of the investigation and Carpenter’s separation agreement after filing a Freedom of Information request.

The separation agreement shows Carpenter received more than $43,000 on his departure for unused vacation days, termination days and 2021 holidays through the end of May, the Journal News said.

Carpenter abruptly departed—it was first termed retirement—as an investigator was concluding interviews after a police officer made a formal complaint about the chief to a trustee, according to a June 8 Village of Pelham Manor press release.

Carpenter was named to the top job in 2015.

On March 16, election day in the village, Trustee Breda Bennett received “a communication from a PMPD officer containing a formal complaint,” said the village’s release. The village board contacted outside employment counsel and hired an investigator to handle an “internal personnel matter.”

James Tampellini of EPT Legal handled the inquiry, interviewing several members of the department, according to the Journal News.

Carpenter’s appointment and the changes he made to the department were cited often in the past year by Lapey as reasons why Pelham Manor had little new to do in the police reform effort initiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order to address structural racism in law enforcement.

When Carpenter was hired, “the only person who stepped up and wanted to help change a department in need was yours truly,” said Lapey during a March candidate’s forum. During a September board meeting, she said the village hit a “reset button” on the police department in 2015 by selecting Carpenter as chief and putting into effect a new commitment to direct communication with residents.

Carpenter was promoted after then Pelham Manor Police Chief Alfred Mosiello was forced out of office in February 2015 over racist emails he shared with fellow officers, according to an article in the Journal News. The paper later reported Mosiello got back back $25,000 in salary and vacation days from a January 2015 suspension imposed by the village board due to the emails.