Sgt. Cole Weston, president of the union that represents active and retired Baltimore County Police officers, said Monday that he intends to retire from the department effective June 30.

The retirement could end an ongoing internal legal issue that resulted in Weston being suspended without pay from the police department.

"It's my intention to pursue retirement at the end of June," Weston told Patch Tuesday.

Weston, 49, has 28 years on the force and has served as president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4 for more than a decade. His current term as president of the union runs through December 2013 though he could continue to serve after retiring from the police force.

Weston was suspended with pay, three months after pleading guilty to second-degree assault in connection to an altercation with a driver for a sedan service outside Weston's home, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Weston was accused of hitting the driver and pointing a gun at him during the incident a year ago.

Weston received probation before judgement and was ordered to three-years unsupervised probation and continued treatment at Towson Addiction Center, according to court records.

The department had initially suspended Weston's police powers but assigned him to administrative duty with pay. Some observers familiar with the department told Patch they believed the change in Weston's employment status and threat of a internal administrative hearing were retaliation by the county because Weston testified in the case of William Blake.

Blake, a county police officer, won a $225,000 federal judgement against the county after being forced to submit to medical tests when he testified on behalf of another police officer who had a seizure.

A date for Weston's administrative hearing has not been set. His retirement could end the need for the hearing.

The union president declined to speak about the investigation or pending hearing.

Correction: This post was updated to include a correction about Weston's suspension He was suspended with pay.