Police chief at center of cold case says accusations over evidence are ‘politically motivated’

BROOKFORD, N.C. — The North Carolina police chief at the center of a cold case investigation is speaking out on social media about accusations against him over allegedly destroying evidence.

He says those claims are politically motivated.

The State Bureau of Investigations is looking into the Brookford Police Department’s handling of a 1992 cold case, but police chief Willie Armstrong is pushing back.

“I have never witnessed a politically motivated agenda like I am now. Because I’m running for sheriff they leveraged this poor little girl’s case against me and this family who all they wanted is justice,” Armstrong said on social media.

Court records say Armstrong went to Bud Crooks’ home last October to interview him about the cold case killing of 13-year-old Denise Dawkins, and he purposely left his cell phone behind to record Crooks.

Crooks spoke with us at his home earlier this year.

“That ain’t right, trying to get me to say something I’m not supposed to say, you know,” Crooks said.

But the sheriff’s office says they first learned of the recording back in November and alerted the SBI four months before Armstrong announced he’s running for sheriff.

The SBI says it tried to serve the warrants weeks earlier, but Armstrong was out of town.

When we went to the police department on Tuesday, Armstrong was meeting with the family about the unsolved murder. He believes that’s what law enforcement should focus on.

“It’s disgusting what I’m witnessing happening. Their moral compass is so broken I don’t think they can find their way home at night with a flashlight,” Armstrong said.

The local district attorney’s office told us prosecutors from out of the country are handling Armstrong’s case.

(VIDEO: Cold case murder victim identified after 29 years, CMPD says)