This is an unusual police story. It's a verbal shootout between a Metro officer and his superiors.

Video: Word On The Street (1/7/08)

Sgt. Brian Petty joined the Metro police department in 1991.

Four years ago Petty, an Army reservist, was called to active duty and ended up in Kuwait.

As a captain, he had numerous jobs including overseeing amnesty boxes which contained liquor, weapons and other contraband.

That was his downfall. He was charged with giving some of the seized alcohol away.

When he returned to rejoin the police department in 2005, he is alleged to have said the charges were dropped and that he was discharged from the Army under honorable conditions.

Police rehired Petty, but placed him on desk duty. Petty immediately sued Metro in federal court over his job status.

The judge dismissed his complaint, but it’s now being appealed to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Later during the lengthy police investigation, they discovered Petty had left the service "in lieu of trial by court-martial," and was given a general discharge, not an honorable discharge.

Petty's attorney, James Stranch, claims federal law does not permit police to use Petty's Army record in its investigation.

Metro attorneys disagree. And there's a new development. Petty was finally fired last month.

His attorney said that will also be appealed.