ATTICA, Ind. (AP) - The police chief in a small western Indiana city has resigned rather than accept a week's suspension without pay over what he says was a harmless prank.

Bobby Bass stepped down as Attica's chief on Thursday, a day after Mayor Robert Shepard told him about the punishment.

Bass tells the Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/O8PQ8X ) that the prank involved him offering two school employees a piece of duck jerky made for dogs, one of whom took a bite of it. Bass says he had earlier eaten some of the jerky and that all those involved laughed about it.

Another person complained to the mayor that the prank wasn't professional.

Bass became chief in the city about 20 miles west of Lafayette in January 2011 after previously being the Fountain County sheriff.

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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com

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