Three South Carolina police officers have been criminally charged for making fake calls to 911 about dead bodies found in four small towns last week.
State officials announced on Monday that the three Chesterfield County deputies were arrested.
According to court documents, First Sergeant Justin Tyler Reichard, 28, Sergeant Darien Myles Roseau, 25, and Deputy Killian Daniel Loflin, 26, were charged on Feb. 12 with misconduct, criminal conspiracy, and aggravated breach of the peace.
“Earlier this week, I learned of possible misconduct by three of our Deputies,” Chesterfield County Sheriff Cambo Streater wrote on his office’s Facebook page on Sunday.
“Based on the nature of the allegations, I requested the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to investigate. SLED has begun their inquiry, and the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office is cooperating fully. I plan to make a formal statement once SLED completes their investigation.”
The Sheriff did not provide any further details but promised a formal statement once the SLED had completed their investigation.
Arrest warrants filed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division state that, on Feb. 4, the three law enforcement officers, while on duty, made five hoax emergency calls to convenience stores and police departments in Cheraw, Chesterfield, McBee, and Pageland—four small towns in Chesterfield County.
The calls led to the deployment of law enforcement and other emergency responders, none of whom were able to find any such “dead body” once they arrived on the scene.
The charges are based on interviews with the three deputies and corroborated by information obtained during the SLED investigation, court documents state.
Records show the three men were booked into the Chesterfield County Detention Center on Monday. All three were charged on Tuesday and released the same day on a $15,000 bond each. A court date has yet to be announced.
State authorities referred to the three young men as ‘former’ deputies, indicating that they had been discharged.
Their apparent dismissal came just two weeks after the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office held an open application day, according to their Facebook page, looking to fill openings in the Sheriff’s office and the detention center.
The Sheriff’s office currently has a uniformed division of over 50 sworn deputies serving the county’s 43,000 citizens. In the state of South Carolina, every law enforcement officer is required to successfully graduate from basic training at the Criminal Justice Academy in the state’s capital, Columbia.
However, candidates must first be hired by a law enforcement agency to attend the Academy.
Another story that turned out to be false circulated over the weekend on social media was that “an incident” had occurred at the county detention center.
“There has been no incident,” the Sheriff announced on Facebook.
“Please be mindful to check information before sharing,” Mr. Streater added.
