Beaufort officer was fired in 2020. New documents reveal why he can no longer be a cop
A Beaufort Police officer was fired last year after lying to investigators about running a license plate for a friend and then giving that friend personal information about his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, according to documents.
The Beaufort Police Department fired Lyle McIntyre on Jan. 8, 2020, for providing protected information to an outside party and for “lack of truthfulness,” according to his termination letter and other documents The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers recently obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
Over a year later, the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy voted unanimously to permanently deny McIntyre certification to work as a sworn law enforcement officer in South Carolina.
That decision can still be appealed.
Through his attorney, McIntyre declined to comment for this story.
‘Numerous inconsistencies’
On Dec. 26, 2019, Beaufort Police received a complaint from a man alleging that then-Officer McIntyre looked up the license plate of his motorcycle and gave the info to the man’s girlfriend’s ex-husband.
The man’s “motorcycle was vandalized after this information was allegedly shared,” according to the complaint.
The department began an internal investigation.
McIntyre was interviewed: He said his friend — whose name police redacted — sent him a picture of a motorcycle license plate and asked him to check whether the plates matched a name.
The then-officer’s friend was “going through a divorce” and alleged that his ex-wife was dating the owner of the motorcycle, according to the report.
McIntyre told Beaufort investigators that the man was allegedly part of a biker gang, so, out of concern for his friend, he ran the motorcycle license plate. However, he claimed he did not send the information to anyone.
Lt. Richard Poole, the internal investigator for Beaufort Police, interviewed McIntyre’s friend.
Poole came back to McIntyre and said there were “numerous inconsistencies” between their two stories.
The report said McIntyre came clean, “eventually admitting to running the vehicle license provided by [his friend] and subsequently providing the registered owner’s name to [his friend].”
After Poole compiled his findings, former Chief Matt Clancy made the decision to fire McIntyre.
Officer of the Year
A little over a year after his termination, McIntyre appeared before top law enforcement leaders in South Carolina to make his case for certification.
An individual can’t work as a sworn police officer without the go-ahead from the Criminal Justice Academy.
McIntyre was not asking for his job back at Beaufort but instead wanted to keep his certification in order to work at another agency.
Cameron Blazer, McIntyre’s attorney, argued on his behalf to the Law Enforcement Training Council on Jan. 27, 2021.
“In that split second he was not truthful and that obviously has to have a consequence,” Blazer said at the hearing, “[but] not every violation has to carry the most serious consequence. I think Mr. McIntyre is the sort of person who should be offered another opportunity.”
A Facebook post in May 2019 from the Beaufort Police Department stated McIntyre won a Rotary Club award after he calmed down a man who was suicidal and successfully resuscitated an unconscious man.
Blazer said McIntyre served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 20 years and was awarded “Officer of the Year” at the Beaufort Police Department within his first two years.
It wasn’t enough to convince the council.
“I can tell you this council has been very consistent with regards to dishonesty when it comes to our law enforcement officers,” said S.C. Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel.
Keel said that consistency is because officers, who have to go into court to explain arrests and investigations, can have their credibility challenged if they have lying on their record.
The council voted and passed a motion to permanently deny McIntyre of certification.
Though they take a hard line of truthfulness, the council’s other decisions vary on a case-by-case basis.
At that same hearing, the council voted to allow a former S.C. Highway Patrol trooper to keep his certification. The trooper was fired in 2019 for initiating a chase on U.S. 21 in Beaufort and firing his weapon at a person, who was not an immediate threat.
At the end of McIntyre’s hearing, Keel thanked him for his service in the military.
“I just want you to know that we’re very consistent with dishonesty,” said Keel, “and that is the reason for the council’s actions today.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 4:20 PM.
