Selma Mayor Darrio Melton confirmed Friday a “fraudulent” press release had been sent to numerous media outlets and was circling social media.

“The format of the press release attempts to imitate legitimate releases generated by the City of Selma,” said Melton. “However, it is poorly written and lacks the city seal, and it is not on official city letterhead.

“The fraudulent release details a fantasized and almost comical scheme that accuses Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier of submitting an invoice for Auburn University basketball tickets,” said Melton. “The most glaring error or convenient oversight dates the invoice in 2015. Chief Collier served as the Secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) during that timeframe.

“A probationary employee, Ms. Keisha Parker, goes into specific details and accuses Chief Collier of demanding that the City of Selma pay the invoice for the tickets,” Melton said. “Chief Collier and his family routinely attended Auburn basketball games, but always personally pay for their tickets.”

“The allegation that I held a bill for tickets for over three years and then decided that I would force a civilian employee who I barely knew, to obtain a check from the City of Selma to cover the cost is laughable,” Collier said.

Melton said Administrative  Capt. Natasha Fowlkes corroborated Collier’s story by informing Parker that the bill was private mail and it should be returned to Collier’s assistant or be discarded. 

 “As a parent of an Auburn University student, I routinely get information and updates on the university. However, to suggest that I did something improper is out of line,” said Collier. “This is dirty politics at its lowest. A brief investigation following the allegations was conducted by Fowlkes and it was determined that Parker turned the invoice over to Lt. Tori Neely, who in turn gave it to a local talk show host.”

“At the recommendation of Captain Fowlkes, Chief Collier terminated Ms. Parker as it was her second offense in distributing information from within the Selma Police Department. Lt. Tori Neely was placed on administrative leave with pay and benefits, until his final disciplinary action will be taken,” according to a release from Melton, who added that this was a way to distract the people of Selma from the real issues of public safety, economic development and improved quality of life.

The press release from Melton also states Collier set up polygraph tests on Friday for Parker and Neely but both refused.