The board examined the bent page. Its next lines documented Camille's county identification and preservation requests in the same ink and continuous sequence as Van's other patrol notes. Pike had taken the notebook at the station, giving him an opportunity to challenge the entry before the investigation; he had never claimed it was newly added until after the termination notice.
Camille took the stand last. Pike's attorney approached with the confidence of someone expecting anger.
"You ordered armed county personnel not to respond. Correct?"
"Correct."
"Because you wanted no independent officers at the scene."
"Because two officers already had guns pointed toward civilians at a gas station. Sending more armed personnel across a jurisdictional line would have increased the danger."
He played the edited radio segment. "That is your voice."
"It is part of my transmission. Play the complete channel."
The full recording began with Asheford Communications asking Sheriff Bennett for her arrival status. It captured Camille identifying herself, Pike calling the radio stolen, Van stating that the plate return had been clear, and Pike threatening county units with obstruction. No one applauded when it ended. The board members simply began writing.
The attorney changed direction. "Even if Officer Pike misunderstood the caution, an officer may use reasonable force during a suspected felony stop."
"That depends on facts known at the time," Camille said. "The state return was clear. I stopped before the first command. My hands remained visible. The local caution did not exist until his session created it."
"You cannot prove he created it."
"Then accept your alternative. Suppose Officer Van created it without his knowledge. Pike still heard Van say the return was clear. He still heard county dispatch identify me. He still saw my credential. Laya then told him on speakerphone that the caution was added after the clear return."
Camille turned toward the board.
"Pike's report says the caution existed before he signaled me to stop. He wrote that report after hearing every contradiction I just listed. Either he created the caution, or he knowingly used an entry he could not authenticate and then falsified when it appeared. His own defense does not make his report true."
The city displayed the Sloan intake photographs. Camille's registration folder was visible inside the saddlebag before the inventory marked it missing. Pike's report claimed officers had found no ownership document. His attorney blamed Sloan employees, but the photographs had attached automatically to the city invoice before any dispute arose.
Pike finally testified. He called each decision a judgment made under pressure. He blamed Van for the terminal, dispatch for unclear phrasing, Sloan for the missing registration, and Camille for making the encounter political. He admitted no wrongdoing.
The board recessed for two hours. When its members returned, the chair separated the issues carefully. They made no criminal finding and expressed no view on Pike's future certification; their authority extended only to city employment.
The decision was unanimous: Harbor Ridge had established sufficient cause for termination through dishonesty, misuse of police information, unreasonable escalation, denial of medical care, and falsification of the incident chronology.
Pike remained seated while his attorney gathered the exhibits. The board clerk transmitted the public record to the state certification authority and the independent prosecutor.