Now police are searching for J.B. Pritchett, who stepped down from the job on Monday, after he was accused of lying on his application.
"We're trying to get him to come in. He's not in the local area. We know that," said La Marque Police Chief Randall Aragon.
Now, several warrants have been issued for his arrest, including arson. Those include two misdemeanors for claiming he served in the military and received degrees from schools investigators claim he didn't attend, along with two felonies and another misdemeanor for arson.
Aragon tells ABC13 that investigators believe Pritchett vandalized and set his own fence on fire on July 3 and claimed it was someone else.
"People are making decisions on promoting, and you don't have that. It's not appropriate. It's not ethical, also claiming an offense took place that didn't take place, that is a problem," Aragon said.
He went on to say that the allegations about the job application were first brought up by City Councilmember Joseph Lowry, whose name was spray-painted on the fence.
During Monday's city council meeting, Mayor Keith Bell said more needs to be done to screen candidates for job openings.
"This is the first step on a road to discovery and uncovering how we as a city need to move forward, and part of that process will be evaluating and re-evaluating how we vet our candidates," said Bell.
Aragon says he'll work with other city officials to make that happen.
"I doubt it'll happen again in our city because there are going to be some safeguards. There's going to be some guard rails put up in the future," Aragon said.
For updates, follow Mo Haider on Facebook, X and Instagram.