Deputy fired for driving loud truck by home of Beaufort man who complained about noise
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office fired a deputy after he used his loud truck to taunt a Beaufort man who was known to complain about excessive noise.
The agency fired deputy Christopher Capps on April 19 after a disciplinary investigation, according to internal affairs documents obtained through the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
On April 13, Capps purposely accelerated his white Ford, with 38-inch tires, while off duty on a Beaufort man’s residential street because he knew the man “complains about the loud cars” in County Council meetings, the reports say.
The man lived in the Walsh subdivision off U.S. 21 in Beaufort.
He was one of several citizen advocates for the Beaufort County noise ordinance that passed in October 2020, restricting loud car noises.
‘This God awful obnoxious noise’
The man told a Sheriff’s Office investigator he was sitting on his sofa after 3 p.m. when he heard “this God awful obnoxious noise coming from a vehicle.” He said he jumped off the sofa, ran outside to see who it was, and got into his car to chase a fleeing Capps.
Another neighbor on Joann Street said the noise from Capps’ truck woke him from a deep sleep.
Capps drove away, and the man chased him while calling 911, the reports said.
“I’m in pursuit,” the man said in the call. “He’s trying to find a way to get away.”
The dispatcher seemed to be frustrated that the caller was pursuing Capps.
“Can you not follow them?” she said. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
In an unusual twist, a deputy was being chased by a citizen.
The pursuit ended more than 6 miles away, north of the Walsh subdivision on Martin Lane in Seabrook.
Three deputies responded to stop the chase. When they stopped both cars, they recognized one of the drivers as their colleague, Christopher Capps.
Capps was overhead calling one of his supervisors afterwards, saying “I’ll admit I did poke the bear a little bit.”
Deputies cleared the scene. The 911 caller later submitted an official complaint to the Sheriff’s Office about Capps.
In an interview with an internal investigator, Capps said he and his friend were driving to Tractor Supply when they decided to mess with the Beaufort man.
He told investigator Lt. Andres Florencio that he realized he’d made a mistake.
“I know it was wrong, I know, you know, morally it was wrong,” Capps said. “As a deputy, I’m supposed to be held to a higher standard than that, and you know, it was a stupid, stupid thing to do.”
In his 23-page report, Florencio said Capps violated department policy by engaging in conduct on or off duty that “reflect[s] discredit on the Sheriff’s Office or tend[s] to bring this agency into disrepute or impair efficient and effective operations.”
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Michael Hatfield made the decision to fire Capps, his termination letter said.
On Friday after the story posted to the Island Packet newspaper Facebook page, Capps commented on the post alleging that the Sheriff’s Office misrepresented things.
“I was only fired after I put in my resignation to start my own business,” he wrote, before attaching a copy of his resignation letter.
Asked on Friday, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Bob Bromage said unequivocally that Capps did not resign.
“He was terminated,” Bromage said.
This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 4:30 AM.
