Fired Muskogee police officer appeals

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A Muskogee police captain who was fired after a Jeep he reported as stolen was found at his mother's farm is appealing the firing.<br/><br/>Jim Wooten was placed on paid leave

Thursday, November 10th 2005, 6:08 pm

By: News On 6

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A Muskogee police captain who was fired after a Jeep he reported as stolen was found at his mother's farm is appealing the firing.

Jim Wooten was placed on paid leave after the Jeep he reported stolen in 2000 was found partially disassembled in a barn on his mother's farm in McIntosh County.

Wooten denies stealing or hiding the Jeep and has suggested to police that a relative may have been involved.

Wooten's insurance company paid a bank about $18,000 and paid Wooten about $2,500 in connection with the disappearance of the Jeep.