Officer passes out in police SUV — with ‘open beer can between his legs,’ SC cops say
An officer passed out in a police SUV — with an open beer can near him, South Carolina officials say.
Sgt. Matt Kinard was fired after authorities say he was intoxicated on the job, the Mount Pleasant Police Department said Monday in a news release.
Officers say they were called last week to an area near Mount Pleasant Regional Airport, roughly 15 miles outside Charleston. There, they saw a marked police SUV and found “Kinard passed out in the vehicle with an open beer can between his legs” on July 3, the news release said.
Kinard was taken to the police station, and officials charged him with public intoxication, according to the Mount Pleasant Police Department. He was released on a courtesy summons, which means he could be arrested if he fails to show up in court, according to state law.
“It’s unclear whether Kinard had an attorney who would comment on his behalf,” the Associated Press reported.
“The criminal consequences are consistent with those a non-law enforcement member of our community would be exposed to and we should not be expected to be treated differently in this circumstance,” Chief Carl Ritchie said in the news release. “I am very disappointed that one of our police supervisors would conduct himself in this manner.”
Kinard had been on the police force for about five years, department spokesperson Inspector Donald Calabrese wrote Tuesday in an email to McClatchy News.
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Officer passes out in police SUV — with ‘open beer can between his legs,’ SC cops say."
