BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A former police officer in Connecticut who reported finding a letter disparaging black officers has been arrested on charges he planted the note himself.

Clive Higgins was arrested Wednesday on a charge of second-degree falsely reporting an incident.

Higgins reported finding the threatening letter Feb. 9 inside his mailbox at the Bridgeport Police Department. Higgins, who is black, said the note written on police letterhead made him fear for his life and showed there was discrimination inside the department.

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A state police investigator wrote in an affidavit that the 50-year-old Higgins admitted during an interview he had typed the letter himself.

Higgins was acquitted in January in the beating of a Hispanic suspect in which two other officers pleaded guilty. He resigned in July.