SHERIFF’S OFFICE ACCUSED OF “DOCTORING” POLICE REPORTS …
There’s a new sheriff in town … but the scandals remain.
Sources in Laurens County, S.C. tell us newly-elected sheriff Don Reynolds is already up to the same sort of bad behavior that landed his predecessor – Ricky Chastain – in trouble with voters.
Not only that, this scandal involves the same individual who allegedly conspired with Reynolds to leak incriminating “sext” messages involving Chastain and a Greenwood, S.C. resident. Chastain and the woman exchanged more than 6,600 messages (including hundreds of sexually explicit photo messages) from October 2015 to April 2016.
The release of these messages contributed mightily to Chastain’s defeat in last spring’s Republican primary election for sheriff – and Reynolds eventual victory in last November’s general election. They are also rumored to be the jumping-off point for a massive anti-corruption investigation that’s reportedly underway in the county – one involving the ex-sheriff and several other local elected officials.
According to our sources, at least one Upstate, S.C. media outlet has attempted to obtain an incident report from the Laurens County sheriff’s department.
This request – which involves a recent “resisting arrest” incident – has been “ignored” by the new sheriff, we’re told.
“They are trying to keep (it) covered up,” our source said, indicating that the individual allegedly victimized during this incident has been threatening to sue the sheriff’s office.
Another source within Reynolds’ office confirmed that the sheriff “is trying to cover it up” and that his deputies “even doctored (the incident) report a few times” in an attempt to conceal what really happened from the public.
So … what happened? Good question.
We have yet to positively identify the individual who was accused of “resisting arrest” in this particular case, but multiple sources say this charge was a pretext for him to be brutally beaten by a Laurens County, S.C. deputy and by James Hayes – the mysterious figure who admitted last year that he was responsible for leaking the sext messages that torpedoed Chastain’s candidacy.
Hayes is an ally of Reynolds. He also ran unsuccessfully for coroner of Laurens County.
“Heads will roll if the truth comes out,” our source said.
Don’t get us wrong, Chastain was a terrible sheriff and we are glad he is no longer in office. But as we noted during the recent election, Reynolds is not without his own issues – and this report is further cause for concern.
We’ll keep digging. Stay tuned for more …
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