A Lipscomb police officer has been fired after city officials say he handcuffed and used pepper spray on a fellow Lipscomb police officer.

Officer Warren Powe, who has previously been fired from the Lipscomb force and reinstated, was let go this week. Lipscomb police Chief Warren Carey said Powe was fired for conduct unbecoming a police officer and use of excessive force.

The firing stemmed from a bizarre incident that happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 26, all while a shocked Lipscomb Mayor Lance McDade looked on. The ordeal began about 6:30 a.m. that Monday when Officer William Henry Bynum was involved in an accident in his police cruiser.

Mayor Lance McDade previously told AL.com that a motorist pulled out in front of the officer and caused the one-vehicle wreck. Because a city vehicle was involved, McDade went to the scene. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office also responded to work the wreck, the mayor said.

Officer Powe then showed up at the accident scene and began to take pictures, though McDade said he didn't know why Powe was there. McDade said Bynum told him he thought it was the law that he be drug tested following his wreck, so the mayor told the officer to get into his car and he would drive him to UAB West for the test. McDade said there is no city policy requiring a drug test and he later learned there is no law requiring one either. "It was better to be safe than sorry,'' the mayor said in an earlier interview.

As the mayor and Bynum were en route to the hospital, Powe, with lights and sirens on, pulled them over on Avenue G at 14th Street. McDade said he got out of his vehicle and asked Powe if there was a problem. "Powe said you can't take him from the scene,'' the mayor said. "I told him Jefferson County had already cleared the scene, and I am his boss."

At that point, Bynum heard the two arguing and got out of the mayor's vehicle as well. Powe then asked Bynum, his fellow officer, if he was wearing his duty belt and was told he was not. "He kept asking him if he had any weapons,'' the mayor said. "There was no need for him to ask that either."

Bynum, authorities said, had his hands in his pockets because it was cold. It was then that Powe went after Bynum. "Powe lunged at Bynum and told him he was under arrest and Maced him,'' the mayor said. "He got on his back and handcuffed him. It was crazy."

"He ignored me as his supervisor and put him in his vehicle,'' McDade said. Once back at the police department, they washed out Bynum's eyes and then called paramedics to take him to the hospital. Sheriff's deputies were called to the hospital to take a report from Bynum, but sheriff's officials referred all questions about the incident to Lipscomb police.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case. Bynum is on paid leave while the police chief says they are still conducting internal investigations.

Efforts to reach Powe for comment were unsuccessful, but Carey said Powe is appealing his firing to the Lipscomb Personnel Board. Lipscomb is not part of the Jefferson County merit system.

Powe pulled over the mayor last year on a traffic violation. McDade was found guilty of attempting to elude him. Powe, also a former Lipscomb police chief, had previously filed a lawsuit against McDade and other city officials after he was he was fired in 2013. A personnel board later reinstated Powe and the lawsuit was dismissed when a settlement was reached.

Lipscomb officials have been somewhat tightlipped about the situation. The mayor has said he doesn't know of any previous problems between Bynum and Powe, two of only 10 officers on the force. "It's caused a good ripple there,'' he said previously. "We've got a situation going on and we're trying to keep morale up. It's a challenge."