[07/03/02]A 10-year Vicksburg police officer was arrested Tuesday and accused of possessing a stolen four-wheeler, Police Chief Tommy Moffett said.

Dan William King Jr., 39, posted a $5,000 bond on one count of receiving stolen property, Moffett said.

The all-terrain vehicle was reported stolen from Madison County on Jan. 2 and had two of its visible serial numbers removed, Moffett said.

“We received information Officer King was in possession of the vehicle and the subsequent investigation led to his arrest,” Moffett said. Police department records show the information was received on June 22.

“It is our contention that when he took possession he knew it was stolen. He also had a mechanism to determine whether it was stolen.”

Moffett said he did not know how King came to possess the vehicle, and that the matter was still under investigation, both as a criminal matter and internally by the police department.

King, a Warren County resident, has an unlisted telephone number, telephone directory assistance said.

Moffett said King was off-duty when he was notified of the situation.

“An officer made contact with him outside the station and asked him to come down to the station,” the chief said. “He didn’t give us any comments we could follow up on to determine whether or not he legitimately possessed this four-wheeler.”