Peachtree City officials have confirmed that Police Sgt. Odilia Bergh was the subject of an investigation into whether she conducted “private business while on duty,” according to a city letter on the matter authored by City Manager Bernie McMullen.

“That review has been completed and the determination was that, based on the facts presented, no investigation is warranted. The city considers this matter closed,” McMullen’s May 27 letter states.

The allegations about Bergh allegedly conducting personal business while she was on duty were contained in a letter written by former Police Chief James V. Murray as he refuted allegations from Bergh that he made a risque remark about another female officer.

In an Oct. 10 letter to the city, Murray alleged that Bergh, then a school resource officer at Booth Middle School, “appears to be doing business on her commercial website during working hours at the school” and indicated the matter was still being investigated.

The investigation about Bergh’s photography website, authorized by the City Council Dec. 6, was to determine whether an investigation was warranted, McMullen said in his letter. When the hiring of the outside attorney was initially announced, city representatives declined to name the employee who was being investigated.

In his letter, Murray also denied Bergh’s accusation of an alleged incident that had occurred when officers had gathered for dinner prior to providing security for the McIntosh High School prom.

Bergh alleged that after another female officer remarked that her breast almost fell out of her dress, Murray replied, “Don’t worry I would have thrown my hand in front of it — I would have thrown my face in front of it.”

The officer who Bergh had referred to “denied the statements” that Bergh attributed to Murray, according to a city memo.

Bergh’s letter containing the accusation was dated Sept. 27, 2007, and referred to the events at the dinner of May 12 just before the group of officers served as security for the McIntosh High School prom.

Murray also suggested that he thought Bergh might have made the accusation because she was “forced” to investigate an incident involving the Booth Middle School athletic booster club president accused of embezzling nearly $10,000 from the booster club’s bank account. Murray said Bergh had a very close relationship with the principal and vice principal at Booth, who according to Murray, had not informed top school system administrators of the missing funds and thus faced potential disciplinary action.

Bergh remains on duty as a police officer but Murray ultimately resigned after he was informed the city was aware of sexually explicit chats that had been transmitted by his city-owned computer, Mayor Harold Logsdon has said previously. The meeting was seeking information from the chief about the chats and Murray was not presented with any potential punishment, Logsdon said.

“It was, ‘here’s some information we have, and do you have an explanation for this’ and ‘I think I’ll retire.’,” Logsdon said. “It pretty much went that way.”