Horry cop fired after aiding North Myrtle Beach business owner was demoted years earlier
An Horry County Police officer recently terminated and under criminal investigation violated department policies numerous times in previous years, including once that resulted in a demotion.
Paul Damon Vescovi was with the HCPD for more than 20 years before being fired April 30 after body camera footage surfaced showing him appearing to inappropriately aid the suspects in a fatal shooting.
The 2023 footage shows Vescovi, while responding to an apparent road rage incident on Camp Swamp Road in Loris, write in his notebook “Act Like a Victim Camera” and showing it to North Myrtle Beach businessman Weldon Boyd and his friend Kenneth “Bradley” Williams after they shot and killed Scott Spivey.
Boyd and Williams have avoided criminal charges after law enforcement determined they acted in self defense, but the case has received scrutiny nationwide after evidence released by Spivey’s family has led to accusations of police misconduct — a former HCPD deputy chief was also pushed out in relation to the investigation — and skepticism regarding the self-defense claims.
HCPD Chief Kris Leonhardt didn’t specifically attribute the “Act Like a Victim” note when announcing Vescovi’s dismissal, but instead cited violations of department and county policies including “conduct unbecoming of an officer and “conduct that causes embarrassment to the county.”
Attempts to reach Vescovi for comment have been unsuccessful.
Vescovi’s personnel file, obtained by The Sun News through a Freedom of Information Act request, includes the disciplinary report documenting his termination, but the description of his conduct only lists the policies he violated without further explanation despite the form prompting the supervisor filling out the form to “include a description of the inappropriate conduct or details of infraction or violation.”
Horry police officer’s other violations
The file does include more detailed descriptions of Vescovi’s previous actions that led to disciplinary actions in 2019.
Two separate disciplinary reports are tied to his actions on March 26, 2019. The descriptions within the reports suggest they may be tied to the same incident, though they were written on different days and Horry County spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov did not respond to confirm whether or not they were linked.
The first report, documenting a written reprimand, states that Vescovi violated the department’s policy on transporting prisoners when he became involved in a car chase while a prisoner and other officers were in his vehicle. Body camera footage showed him running through at least three red lights during the pursuit, the report states.
The second report states the Vescovi violated the “conduct unbecoming of an officer” policy after an internal investigation determined he improperly brandished his weapon in a vehicle occupied by a prisoner and other officers while “inappropriately joking about the weapon and its use.” This violation was deemed more serious and resulted in a three-day unpaid suspension and demotion from detective to patrol officer, the report shows.
A third disciplinary report in Vescovi’s file, from April 25, 2019, explains that he violated HCPD firearms policy by improperly leaving his gun in the cargo pocket of the driver’s side door in an unmarked county-issued vehicle, which “would not be deemed secure by any reasonable person.” Vescovi was suspended with pay for the violation, though the report does not specify how long the suspension lasted.
What’s missing from personnel file?
The Sun News has previously reported that HCPD internal investigations also sustained at least two other “conduct unbecoming” violations against Vescovi in 2020 and 2021 based on records received from a previous FOIA request, but neither violation is documented in his personnel file.
When asked why, Horry County FOIA manager Aaron Spelbring responded that internal affairs investigations aren’t included within a personnel file unless disciplinary action is taken, appearing to confirm that Vescovi faced no discipline for twice violating a policy that previously led to a demotion and ultimately led to his termination.
Also included within Vescovi’s personnel file were performance evaluations dating back to when he was hired in 2002, but the most recent evaluation included was from 2015.
Neither Moskov nor Spelbring responded to a question about why or if HCPD stopped conducting performance reviews after 2015, though Spelbring did state that all records within the file received by him were provided to The Sun News.
