YAKIMA (AP) — Officials say no action will be taken against the former Yakima Police Department spokesman who was the subject of an internal investigation.

Mike Bastinelli resigned last month after he was placed on administrative leave while investigators examined allegations that he used his status as a police employee to assert authority.

Bastinelli was accused of following and confronting a woman in a road-rage incident in July.

Bastinelli says the encounter was “totally blown out of proportion,” noting it should not have prompted an internal investigation.

Investigators say he also identified himself as a police employee and refused to leave a restaurant following a verbal confrontation with the owner.

Bastinelli, who is not a police officer, says he only resigned because his position was being eliminated.

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