Lisa Roose-Church

Livingston Daily

A former Pinckney police sergeant who unexpectedly resigned via email late one evening in April has been arrested on a warrant alleging he stole money from his mother.

Former Sgt. William Cook was booked into the Bradley County (Tennessee) Jail following his arrest early Thursday morning by Cleveland, Tennessee, police acting on a warrant from Livingston County alleging Cook embezzled more than $20,000 from his mother, who has dementia.

“No,” Cook’s wife, Mary Sue Cook, replied Thursday when asked if she believed the allegations.

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“I know he took some of her money to help pay for her medicine,” Mary Sue Cook explained. “It was $500 a month. I’ll be damned if I was using my money to support her. He used some of her money to buy her special food she had to have; it was very expensive. Why can’t we use her money for her?”

Mary Sue Cook declined further comment, citing the advice of her attorney.

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Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt declined to comment on the case. He said his office has not been advised by Bradley County authorities about whether the 54-year-old sergeant will fight the extradition.

An employee answering the phone at the Bradley County district attorney's office referred inquiries to the felony court clerk, who referred calls back to the DA's office.

Hamburg Police Chief Rick Duffany confirmed Thursday that William Cook was arrested without incident when he arrived for work at a plant in Tennessee.

Duffany said his department was contacted by a representative with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in May — about one month after William Cook walked away from his job — regarding “concerns” with the sergeant's mother’s finances.

Sgt. Gary Harpe’s investigation led to multiple search warrants on “multiple bank accounts” and a review of thousands of pages of financial information.

That investigation revealed that William Cook allegedly embezzled money from his mother, who lived briefly with her son in his Hamburg Township home before being transferred to a nursing home.

The allegations say William Cook stole the money “for a few years” while he had power of attorney over his mother’s finances and while she lived in the nursing home.

Duffany declined to say how much authorities believe was embezzled.

William Cook’s mother is currently living in a nursing facility located outside of Michigan. She is in “good physical health,” Duffany said.

William Cook, who worked as an interim Unadilla Township police chief, was supposed to report to work at the Pinckney Police Department at around 6 a.m. April 4, but about four hours prior to his shift, Cook emailed the chief and resigned. He had left his post at Unadilla about two years prior.

Pinckney Police Chief Jeff Newton said at the time that Cook “just resigned, effective immediately” and that he offered no additional explanation.

Newton said Cook was an employee "in good standing" and there were no disciplinary actions or any known reasons for the sudden resignation.

Contact Livingston Daily justice reporter Lisa Roose-Church at 517-552-2846 or lrchurch@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LisaRooseChurch.