On May 16, the sleepy, and somewhat venal little town of Cottageville, SC, famous for its ticket revenue speed trap, made headlines when Police Officer Randy Price shot and killed the former mayor on a narrow dirt road called Nut Hatch Lane.
From all accounts, the former Mayor, Bert Reeves, allegedly was unarmed at the time of the shooting and one shot to the chest took him down. No one knows what brought them face to face at that particular place and time or what may have led up to it. In fact, no one knows much of anything. As with all officer involved shootings in the state of South Carolina, it falls under the purview of SLED.
Speculation and small town gossip are running high. The present Mayor, who is also the former Mayor's Aunt, recently made a public statement to the press, "SLED has told me to remain mum on the matter until their investigation is complete." Interesting choice of words that conjured up more gossip. A recent fact was released that may or not be relevant; The present Mayor reported finding a machete on her front lawn on the day of the shooting. Law enforcement officials were still processing the crime scene when 2 officers came over to collect it. One has no idea what significance that may have on this investigation.
As I noted in a previous post, both Officer Price and former Mayor Reeves, have some heavy duty baggage that also throws an interesting twist on what is already a tantalizing little soap opera.
Somebody should write a book!
Officer Price's work history, which is on file with the SC Criminal Justice Academy, shows that he worked for 7 different law enforcement agencies since 1998. This link will give further details. It's not pretty and it's the kind of thing that makes good cops look bad.
Mayor Reeves is not without his share of run-ins with the law. Most notably for traveling at 103 miles per hour, then pissing and moaning about getting a ticket for it. His reckless driving habits caused him to later total his vehicle, leading to a serious head injury. The Highway Patrol charged him with DUI, but that charge was later dismissed. His blood test results showed he was under the influence of marijuana, but not enough to establish the evidence needed under the DUI statute. He eventually recovered from his injuries and later, he reluctantly resigned as Mayor, perhaps as a result of the vocal outcry from the citizenry. He had some domestic issues as well that prompted his wife and children to leave the family residence.
He's a colorful character, to say the least.
Then along comes another tidbit.....An attorney by the name of Peter Protopapas claims he was personal friends with the now deceased Mr. Reeves and that they had a casual discussion about Officer Price.
Protopapas asserts that Reeves told him he felt he was being harassed by Price. Oddly enough, this attorney makes this announcement to the news media only last week, admitting that he hadn't spoken with investigators yet about this information. One would think that the information may have been "privileged" under the attorney/client concept, but if he was attempting to help his friend, why would he withhold any information?
Ah, the plot thickens!
Now it just gets even more peculiar -
The local area newspaper reports that the chief prosecutor for the 14th judicial circuit, Duffie Stone, has written a letter to US Attorney Bill Nettles asking for a federal grand jury. Stone's letter read in part, “Due to the complex nature of this investigation I am asking that your office use the investigative abilities of the federal grand jury to assume the investigation and prosecution of this matter."
I don't think the word "complex" is the appropriate adjective to describe this 3 ring circus.
Finally, an attorney by the name of Mullins McLeod, is representing the late Mayor Reeves' family and he too appears to be trying this case in front of the news media. He's actually made a written request to have this incident added on to the agenda of an upcoming town council meeting. The Mayor refused, citing personnel confidentiality. This attorney's methods are just as off beat as Protopapas'.
It seems that nothing is ever easy in the quaint little town of Cottageville.
From all accounts, the former Mayor, Bert Reeves, allegedly was unarmed at the time of the shooting and one shot to the chest took him down. No one knows what brought them face to face at that particular place and time or what may have led up to it. In fact, no one knows much of anything. As with all officer involved shootings in the state of South Carolina, it falls under the purview of SLED.
Speculation and small town gossip are running high. The present Mayor, who is also the former Mayor's Aunt, recently made a public statement to the press, "SLED has told me to remain mum on the matter until their investigation is complete." Interesting choice of words that conjured up more gossip. A recent fact was released that may or not be relevant; The present Mayor reported finding a machete on her front lawn on the day of the shooting. Law enforcement officials were still processing the crime scene when 2 officers came over to collect it. One has no idea what significance that may have on this investigation.
As I noted in a previous post, both Officer Price and former Mayor Reeves, have some heavy duty baggage that also throws an interesting twist on what is already a tantalizing little soap opera.
Somebody should write a book!
Officer Price's work history, which is on file with the SC Criminal Justice Academy, shows that he worked for 7 different law enforcement agencies since 1998. This link will give further details. It's not pretty and it's the kind of thing that makes good cops look bad.
Mayor Reeves is not without his share of run-ins with the law. Most notably for traveling at 103 miles per hour, then pissing and moaning about getting a ticket for it. His reckless driving habits caused him to later total his vehicle, leading to a serious head injury. The Highway Patrol charged him with DUI, but that charge was later dismissed. His blood test results showed he was under the influence of marijuana, but not enough to establish the evidence needed under the DUI statute. He eventually recovered from his injuries and later, he reluctantly resigned as Mayor, perhaps as a result of the vocal outcry from the citizenry. He had some domestic issues as well that prompted his wife and children to leave the family residence.
He's a colorful character, to say the least.
Then along comes another tidbit.....An attorney by the name of Peter Protopapas claims he was personal friends with the now deceased Mr. Reeves and that they had a casual discussion about Officer Price.
Protopapas asserts that Reeves told him he felt he was being harassed by Price. Oddly enough, this attorney makes this announcement to the news media only last week, admitting that he hadn't spoken with investigators yet about this information. One would think that the information may have been "privileged" under the attorney/client concept, but if he was attempting to help his friend, why would he withhold any information?
Ah, the plot thickens!
Now it just gets even more peculiar -
The local area newspaper reports that the chief prosecutor for the 14th judicial circuit, Duffie Stone, has written a letter to US Attorney Bill Nettles asking for a federal grand jury. Stone's letter read in part, “Due to the complex nature of this investigation I am asking that your office use the investigative abilities of the federal grand jury to assume the investigation and prosecution of this matter."
I don't think the word "complex" is the appropriate adjective to describe this 3 ring circus.
Finally, an attorney by the name of Mullins McLeod, is representing the late Mayor Reeves' family and he too appears to be trying this case in front of the news media. He's actually made a written request to have this incident added on to the agenda of an upcoming town council meeting. The Mayor refused, citing personnel confidentiality. This attorney's methods are just as off beat as Protopapas'.
It seems that nothing is ever easy in the quaint little town of Cottageville.
