A criminal charge against a Dallas fire chief arrested Tuesday during a traffic stop has been dropped while the Dallas County Sheriff's Department investigates the incident and determines whether the arrest was warranted.

Michael Jones, a battalion chief with Dallas Fire-Rescue, was taken to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on a misdemeanor charge of interference with public duties, sheriff's spokesman Michael Ortiz said.

But a sheriff's captain ordered him released before he could be booked.

Capt. Mark Howard, the sheriff's traffic supervisor, also ordered the charge against Chief Jones dropped so that the incident could be reviewed, Deputy Ortiz said.

Chief Jones could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The incident began when Chief Jones, who was off duty at the time, was stopped for speeding on Interstate 30 at Rosehill Road in Garland around 4 p.m. Tuesday, Deputy Ortiz said.

Chief Jones allegedly did not cooperate with sheriff's Sgt. Brian Rayburn, who had just been promoted on Saturday, Deputy Ortiz said. That led to some sort of verbal or physical altercation that prompted Sgt. Rayburn to call for assistance, the spokesman said.

"At one point, the deputy did feel threatened enough to ask for backup," Deputy Ortiz said.

Chief Jones was taken to the jail because the charge is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. The charge is warranted when a person "with criminal negligence interrupts, disrupts, impedes or otherwise interferes with" a police officer, according to the Texas Penal Code.

But Capt. Howard then interceded.

"Captain Howard must have seen something that raised an eyebrow that caused him to want to look into it," Deputy Ortiz said. "With this kind of charge, we want to make sure everything happened the way it happened."

He said that the law is vague on that little-used charge and that supervisors want to make sure it met the right criteria. He said the matter is the subject of an administrative investigation.

"The chief was released from custody, and the administration is going to look into every detail of that traffic stop," Deputy Ortiz said.

The Dallas fire department recently signed an agreement between the city of Dallas and the Sheriff's Department that allows deputies to patrol freeways in southern Dallas County and respond to traffic accidents.

The takeover officially began Monday.