A former police chief in a small, east Alabama town has resigned after the city council voted to suspend him this week.

The Abbeville City Council voted to place Interim Police Chief Erik Cabrera on paid administrative leave Monday night after an hour-long executive session to discuss the “character and good name of an individual.”

Cabrera resigned from the Abbeville Police Department Tuesday morning, Mayor Jim Money told AL.com.

The city announced Tuesday that it will be accepting applications for a new police chief until Jan.10.

“We just had some internal issues, nothing major,” Money told AL.com, adding that the city was already looking for a new, permanent police chief to take over at the start of the new year.

Officials told reporters this week that they had conducted an investigation into several complaints against Cabrera, but would not provide details on the allegations or where they came from.

“We put him on administrative leave to give us some time to sort things out and see what was going on,” Money said. “It kind of hit us suddenly and we thought there was enough there to take some action.”

Cabrera did not respond to a request for comment from AL.com, but said in a public Facebook post Wednesday that it was his personal decision to leave the department.

“For all the citizens of Abbeville. I resigned from the City of Abbeville on my own,” he wrote in a post under the name Erik Nelson. It was not clear why Cabrera goes by the name Erik Nelson on Facebook.

“I felt it was the best decision after being put on administrative leave for complaints against me. Complaints are a part of life and you cant make everyone happy. It sometimes comes with a job in leadership.”

Cabrera added he was “exhausted” from managing an understaffed department.

The city is currently accepting new applications for police officers, and had long struggled with vacancies, officials told AL.com.

“If I screwed up, that’s on me,” Cabrera wrote.

“If the city wants to take action on those complaints, That’s their decision and their right, and I’m not needed. I have no ill will towards anyone. I’m not mad nor angry. Am I disappointed, sure. Just know that I put my life into loving, caring and protecting the citizens of Abbeville for the past 5 years.

“There’s no need for negative words on either side. The City is just doing what they believe is the right thing to do. For the last few months I have been working everyday. I was down to 4 days off a month. We had limited experienced staff to include myself. I was exhausted, but I was still at work doing what I said I was going to do. I did the best I could with I had. I thank the City of Abbeville for the opportunity and I’m greatful for the expierence.”

Cabrera took over in January 2023 after former police chief Eric Blankenship was elected as Henry County Sheriff.

Blankenship told WVTY News Wednesday that the sheriff’s office is assisting the Abbeville Police Department throughout the transition.

“We’re not going to let the citizens go without,” he told the station. “So even if it means shifting around some of our resources and putting an extra person on to help catch those calls for the city while they’re in need, we’re going to do whatever we have to to make sure that the citizens are provided for.”

Money said the city has always been able to count on the county to help with staffing shortages. Abbeville has struggled for a number of years to attract officers, he said, acknowledging Cabrera’s comment that he had been overworked.

“Every city that I know of is short of officers, and they’re just hard to come by,” Money told AL.com. “And we’ve had our share, too.”

“[Cabrera] put in a lot of time,” he added. “But that’s what he felt like he needed to do and we appreciated him doing it and that’s the way it worked.”