The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has released a copy of a
patrolman's dash camera video showing the trooper ticketing Norway's
mayor and then being pulled over himself -- by the mayor.
DMV
records show Norway Mayor Jim Preacher was driving the town's unmarked
Dodge Charger 70 mph in a 55 mph zone on Jan. 18. Preacher was just
outside the town's limits when the trooper picked up the speeding on his
radar. After the trooper issued Preacher a four-point ticket, the video
shows Preacher make a U-turn and turn his lights and sirens on to make a
stop on the trooper.
"Can I see your driver's license," the
Norway mayor asked the trooper. The trooper pulls his license out when
Preacher tells him the reason for the stop, "Are you familiar with
interfering with a police officer?" Preacher asked.
Preacher
claims he was acting as the town's chief constable and was investigating
an attempted armed robbery at a gas station that night in Norway.
Preacher was driving the former chief's patrol car. Norway has been
without a police department since August 2011, after former mayor Cindy
Williams sent a letter to the state's criminal justice academy, stating
that Norway "disbanded" its police force because the town couldn't
afford the officers.
Preacher took the trooper's license and
patrol car registration and spent 23 minutes with it, sitting inside his
Charger. The trooper's dash cam audio caught the entire episode. You
can hear the trooper complying with Preacher's commands, and then a
string of phone calls between the trooper and his supervisors.
In
the first call, the trooper tells his boss, "I don't know what he
pulled me for; he—I don't know. He's back there now, I don't know what
he's doing." Seventeen minutes into the stop, the trooper's supervisor
tells him to take his phone to Preacher.
"I'm going to file a
formal complaint, I'm going to take him back to my office and issue him a
ticket for interfering with a police officer," Preacher told the
unidentified supervisor. Preacher tells the supervisor that he should
have gotten a "professional courtesy," since he was a law enforcement
officer, and let go without a ticket.
"Son, you got a lot to
learn," Preacher told the trooper as he handed him his license back and
drove away. Preacher did not issue the trooper a ticket for interfering.
DPS
launched an investigation into the stop the following day. After
reviewing the tapes, DPS turned their investigation over to the State
Law Enforcement Division to determine whether Preacher violated state
law in stopping the trooper. SLED is also investigating whether Preacher
had any police powers, since his law enforcement certification records
show that his certification is "inactive" with the academy.
Preacher
claims he is acting as Norway's "chief constable," a title granted to
him during a Jan. 9, 2012 council meeting in Norway. Preacher who was
sworn in as the town's mayor just days before that, makes $32,000 a year
in that position, according to records.
SLED turned its
investigation over to the State Attorney General's office for an opinion
as to whether Preacher has police powers, and the authority to conduct
traffic stops. The AG has not issued its opinion as of this report.
UPDATE:
A grand jury indicted Norway, SC Mayor Jim Preacher and South Carolina
governor Nikki Haley suspended him from office. He is accused of
impersonating a police officer, drawing pay without council approval,
and nepotism when hiring his own son to work for the city. The
indictments claim that among other things, Preacher stopped State
Trooper Williams "without the authority, justification and
certification to do so mandated by S.C. Criminal Justice Academy
qualifications