SULTAN, Wash. -- The City of Sultan has forced its police chief out of his office on paid administrative leave.

This comes on the heels of an exclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation into how the chief's administrative assistant may have misused police computers for personal gain.

Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne tonight exposes new allegations of a cover-up that goes to the highest levels of city government.

Sultan Police Chief Fred Walser was set to retire in a few months, but instead, was told this weekend; pack your bags now.

On the phone today, Walser confirmed to KIRO Team 7 Investigators he is being accused by the city of "withholding" information from detectives investigating alleged wrongdoing by his top aide.

Sultan mayor, Ben Tolson, didn't want to wander too far from his lawyer-approved, written statement, but it's clear city leaders here have lost faith in police chief Fred Walser's ability to do his job.

“At this particular time, I can confirm that Police Chief Fred Walser is on paid administrative leave.”

Tolsen added, “We are looking for an interim chief.”

The Mayor says there are now two internal investigations underway into matters within the Sultan Police Department. The most expensive one (40-thousand dollars in tax money so far) involves the Chief's administrative assistant, Carol Pepperell.

When we first went to see Chief Walser last month, he was extremely defensive when it came to our questions about Pepperell.

“I have nothing to hide. She has nothing to hide. What you're doing is causing my secretary all kinds of issues. You can shut that camera off.”

Pepperell is at the heart of a state patrol investigation looking into her use of police resources, databases, and law-enforcement-only information to reportedly harass a neighbor. That neighbor. Gayle Harvie, told KIRO Team 7 Investigators that Pepperell became "obsessed" with getting back at her after Harvie filed a criminal complaint against Pepperell's son.

Harvie filed a complaint with the local Sheriff’s Department, saying, “Once she got a hold of certain information, you can see where she stepped it up significantly. She was after us and it's like, you can't just leave your home.”

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Department conducted the initial investigation and determined that Pepperell may have misused her police powers, so, to avoid a conflict of interest, the Washington State Patrol took over the ongoing case.

Meanwhile, KIRO Team 7 Investigators discovered that Pepperell had been fired from her last job, at the Mount Lake Terrace Police Department, for misusing computers there to find potential "dates".

That’s according to Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Scott Smith, who shared with us internal investigation files regarding Pepperell from 1994.

“She ran over 200 license plates of individuals for personal use. The investigation determined she would attend various functions, rodeos or different establishments and typically would find an individual she would find attractive; get their license plate and run their license plate.”

Pepperoll declined our attempts to talk about the allegations under investigation.

The Washington State Patrol tells us today: it is NOT done with its final report regarding Pepperell's alleged misuse of computers.