New disturbing details have emerged in the case of the Beaufort County, South Carolina firefighter who is still wanted for multiple child sex crimes and was also accused in multiple lawsuits of using a chokehold on Trey Pringle before he died in police custody in 2018.
A week after arrest warrants were issued, Beaufort Police officials are still searching for Brandon Corey Thomsen, 46, who is wanted for criminal solicitation of a minor and dissemination of obscene materiel to a person under 18.
According to the police report obtained by FITSNews, a Beaufort County mother called police on Nov. 28 after she discovered disturbing Snapchat messages Thomsen sent to her 13-year-old daughter.
But 10 years before this recent alleged incident with a 13-year-old, Thomsen was accused in another sexual assault incident involving another 13-year-old girl who is now 23, according to court documents.
Thomsen was never charged in the incident, but was named in the lawsuit filed by the 13-year-old’s daughter and the police report.
The lawsuit accused Thomsen of supplying alcohol and marijuana to a 13-year-old in October 2010 and watching as the child was stripped and raped in his home.
Port Royal Police investigated the incident after the 13-year-old’s mother called authorities to report that her daughter had been raped.
The 2010 police report, written by Sgt. Shane Williams, said the 13-year-old old was a “willing participant in having sex with the four boys” and there was “no evidence to support her claim of Brandon Thomsen providing her marijuana.”
The police report didn’t even name Thomsen as a suspect, despite the fact that one of the boys accused told police that the 13-year-old “had sex with the 30-year-old.” Thomsen was in his 30s at the time.
Port Royal Police didn’t appear to interview Thomsen in the case. The police appeared to be end their investigation in the case less than two weeks after the alleged rape was reported to police, according to reports.
Trey Pringle’s Death
Earlier this year, Thomsen was the only individual named in a wrongful death lawsuit that accused Thomsen of using a chokehold on 24-year-old Trey Pringle after he was tased multiple times on Feb. 17, 2018.
Thomsen was assisting Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies as a Burton firefighter responding to Pringle’s home in Seabrook, South Carolina after his family called 911 for medical assistance. Pringle was “behaving erratically.”
After a deputy tased Pringle, Thomsen put him in a chokehold “without authorization or training,” the lawsuit said. At this time, Pringle was lying on the floor subdued and was surrounded by four first responders, according to the lawsuit.
After deputies tased him several more times, Thomsen kept Pringle in a headlock/ chokehold, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, deputies also said:
- Thomsen moved Trey’s head side-to-side during the chokehold.
- Thomsen placed Pringle in a “half-Nelson.“
- It looked like Thomsen put Pringle in a “Chicken Wing Maneuver.”
- Pringle was making snoring sounds while this was happening.
When Thomsen released Pringle, he was no longer breathing, the lawsuit said. First responders then rushed him to the hospital, where he died several days later.
After the death was ruled a homicide by MUSC medical examiners, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone ultimately decided no criminal charges were filed in the case, The Island Packet newspaper reported.
Trey Pringle’s tragic death has sparked several peaceful protests in the Beaufort community — with many demanding “Justice For Trey.”
Now that Thomsen is wanted for multiple crimes in 2020, many are asking why the system didn’t stop him before.
“Should’ve arrested him when he killed Trey Pringle,” one person commented on the Beaufort Police Facebook post on Thomsen. “If you did your due diligence then he wouldn’t be out here asking for sex from 13 year olds.”
If you have information on Thomsen or his whereabouts, contact Stephanie Karafa of the Beaufort Police at (843)-322-7914 or the Anonymous Tip Line at 843-322-7938.
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