2 weeks after man was Tased and died, Beaufort Co. sheriff won’t say who was there

Three days after the funeral of a Seabrook man who died after a Taser was used on him three times by Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Sheriff P.J. Tanner continues to refuse to release the names of those deputies.

Tanner also said he has not reached out to Trey Pringle’s family or the larger community concerned about the death.

The investigation into the 24-year-old man’s death is being handled by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division. The sheriff’s office is conducting a separate internal investigation into what happened Feb. 17, the day two deputies arrived at the Seabrook home after being called by family members who said Pringle was out of control, injured and in need of assistance.

SLED spokesman Thom Berry said Friday that its investigation is ongoing and that SLED leaves the release of the deputies’ names up to the sheriff’s office.

Tanner said Friday he was getting mixed messages from SLED.

“SLED asks us not to release a lot of information about the case, which we agree to not doing,” Tanner said. “Then they turn around and say that it’s up to the sheriff’s office to release deputy names. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Make up your mind.”

Tanner said again Friday he will not release the names until the SLED investigation is complete. To do so now, he said, could put the deputies in danger since they continue to be on active duty.

In December 2016, Tanner released the names of two deputies involved in a shooting at the Tanger 2 Outlets in Bluffton. That incident also was investigated by SLED.

The suspect in that case allegedly dragged a deputy with his car during a traffic stop until he was shot and wounded by that deputy, Sgt. Raymond Heroux.

Heroux and Sgt. Selena Nelson, who backed him up at the scene, were placed on leave for approximately two weeks.

“The officers in the Tanger event were placed on leave because I gave them the opportunity to take some time off,” Tanner said. “I wanted to make sure they were healthy, as one was injured. The other officer involved witnessed the incident, and I wanted to make sure they were both mentally and physically healthy.”

Tanner said he was comfortable releasing their names because they were not on active duty.

“(The Trey Pringle case) is different because I’m not comfortable releasing the officers’ names and they didn’t take any time off,” Tanner said. “I interviewed all three (deputies) extensively to see if they could remain on duty.”

‘A holding pattern’

Despite community concern surrounding Pringle’s death, Tanner does not plan any kind of outreach to alleviate fears some now feel about calling the police for help until the SLED investigation is complete.

“We are kind of in a holding pattern based on waiting for the investigation to be concluded,” Tanner said Friday. “That way, all the facts can be made available to the sheriff’s office, the family of Trey Pringle and the community.

“I don’t think talking about things in general about this case is healthy when the case is still under investigation,” he said. “I’m not, at this time, going to (talk to the community) until the facts are presented to the general public in the findings of an investigative report. Then I’ll have discussions on its impact on the community and not until then. I think it’s premature to have any conversations about it.”

He faulted an Island Packet reporter for asking the question.

“You’ve already determined in your mind that the cause of death in this case is a Taser,” Tanner said to a reporter. “A lot of people believe that.”

The cause of Pringle’s death could take weeks to determine, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.

When asked whether he has contacted Pringle’s family, Tanner said they have asked for privacy and that he respects that request.

“The Pringle family has asked to be respected and to leave them alone during this time, and we absolutely respect their request,” he said. “They’re grieving, and we completely respect their request.”

The background

Pringle died Feb. 20 after deputies responded to a residence on Detour Road.

A relative called 911 on Feb. 17 to report Pringle was “out of control, injured, bleeding and in need of assistance.”

When deputies arrived, Pringle had allegedly broken items inside the residence. He later punched one deputy and injured another, according to the sheriff’s office report on the incident.

He lost consciousness after he was stunned three times by a Taser — one of them a “drive stun” in which the device is held directly to the subject’s body — and physically restrained by the deputies and other first responders at the scene.

Pringle went into cardiac arrest after he was handcuffed and his legs were bound, the report said. First responders gave him CPR, and he was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

He died there three days later.

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 2:57 PM with the headline "2 weeks after man was Tased and died, Beaufort Co. sheriff won’t say who was there."