New Jersey Police Chief Arrested On Drug Charges Resigns

HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - A New Jersey police chief suspended after his arrest on charges of buying cocaine and having it shipped to his post office box has resigned.

The executive director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission says 43-year-old Michael Coppola handed in his resignation Aug. 15 as chief of the Palisades Interstate Parkway police department.

Bergen County prosecutors allege that he went to a post office box earlier this month to retrieve the order, for which detectives had substituted imitation cocaine, and was arrested during a motor vehicle stop in Ridgefield Park.

Coppola is charged with attempting to possess cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He's scheduled to make a court appearance Wednesday.

Coppola joined the department in 1996 and became chief in 2014.

Coppola was suspended in July after the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office issued a report finding suspected violations of state laws and police guidelines within the department.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)