A Fayetteville

police officer who is under investigation for an alleged assault in the

city that stemmed from a fracas at a Peachtree City bar in March has resigned

following his arrest early Thursday morning in Peachtree City for driving

under the influence of alcohol, police said.

Jason E. Edens,

28, of Sharpsburg, resigned later Thursday, according to Fayetteville

Police Chief Johnny Roberts.

Edens was arrested

at 3:20 a.m. after an officer pulled his 2000 Ford Ranger over at the

intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 74 to investigate a possible noise

violation, according to a police report. Edens took a breath test that

indicated his blood alcohol was .138 grams, the report stated, well above

the legal limit of .08 grams.

Edens was off-duty

at the time, Roberts said.

"It is

truly unfortunate because he was an outstanding police officer,"

Roberts said, noting that police officers must be "held to a higher

standard than the general public."

Edens was the

city's primary K-9 officer, Roberts noted.

Prior to accepting

Edens' resignation, the officer was placed on administrative leave as

an internal investigation into the matter began, Roberts said.

According to

the Peachtree City police report on the incident, Edens admitted to drinking

alcohol prior to the traffic stop.

Roberts also

confirmed that he reprimanded Edens for the alleged assault that occurred

March 13 at a Fayetteville residence. Edens was forced to forfeit two

weeks of annual leave time and demoted to police officer II from police

officer III, which reduced his pay, Roberts said. Edens was also required

to submit to drug and alcohol tests when requested, attend counseling

sessions and he was put on a 12-month probationary period that kept him

from being eligible for promotion, Roberts said.

The alleged

assault case was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,

which will forward its report to the district attorney's office, said

Joe B. Jackson Jr., the special agent in charge of the GBI's Greenville

office. The investigation is complete but must be transferred to written

format, Jackson said.

Roberts said

the GBI was called in to investigate the allegations "since it involved

one of our officers."

"We're

not going to look into that we're going to get an independent party to

look into that," Roberts said.

The punishment

for Edens was based on what he has been told about the GBI's investigation,

Roberts said.

"I felt

like I had enough from what I know regarding it and verbal confirmation

from the GBI," the chief said.

According to

a police report, the victim in the case told Peachtree City police that

he did not want to prosecute Edens for allegedly head-butting him during

an altercation at the Hangar 74 bar March 13. The victim admitted that

he sought out Edens in Fayetteville after the bar incident in order to

confront him, and the two got into a "physical altercation,"

according to the Peachtree City report.

After that

altercation, the victim said he left the scene in his vehicle and Edens

followed him to the Fayetteville Police Department, the report said.

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