Arizona- Buckeye Fire Marshal Manny DeAnda resigned last week amid sexual harassment allegations, including accusations that he performed lap dances at work on a female employee.

In an Aug. 14 letter obtained by The Arizona Republic, Buckeye Fire Chief Bob Costello placed DeAnda on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation centered on misconduct witnessed by several town employees.

The incident took place June 3 in the offices of the Community Development Department. After learning about a female worker’s birthday, DeAnda “came over to me and spun me around in my chair and straddled me and began to do a lap dance on me,” the woman told Buckeye human resources officials Aug. 13, after debating whether to come forward.

“I was embarrassed and horrified . . . and I put my head in my hands to hide my embarrassment,” she said.

“In response to the commotion that it caused in the office, he (DeAnda) showed another person what he had done by repeating the act. He spun me around again and straddled me and began another dance on me.”

She also accused DeAnda of whispering in Spanish, “Oh, you look good,” “Let’s go to Vegas,” and “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” records show.

“I never said anything about him dancing on me because I thought he was our new boss,” the woman said.

The town withheld her name as well as the identity of others interviewed during the internal probe, which revealed DeAnda had a history of making inappropriate remarks to female staff.

Costello had no comment on the investigation or DeAnda’s resignation.

Costello, a former Buckeye fire marshal, plans to take on fire-prevention duties until a new marshal is appointed. The fire marshal heads the fire-prevention unit, which is charged with building-plan approval, fire-code enforcement and arson investigations.