Three South Carolina sheriff’s deputies have been accused of making five separate “hoax emergencies” to local businesses and police departments about finding dead bodies while they were on duty.
First Sgt. Justin Tyler Reichard, 28; Sgt. Darien Myles Roseau, 25; and Deputy Killian Daniel Loflin, 26, are each facing charges of misconduct in office, criminal conspiracy and aggravated breach of peace for their alleged actions on Feb. 4.
While the trio were on duty, investigators say they called convenience stores and local law enforcement agencies in Cheraw, Chesterfield, McBee and Pageland, and told whomever answered about the “location of a ‘dead body’ within the municipalities,” according to charging documents filed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
In at least two of the phone calls, the trio allegedly said they found a dead body on the local railroad tracks, and in at least one instance, other Chesterfield County deputies aided in the search for the non-existent bodies, according to police reports obtained by Queen City News.
Each phone call triggered an emergency response from the local police departments, the SLED arrest warrant says, noting the charges were based on interviews with the officers and were corroborated by “information obtained during the SLED investigation.”
It remains unclear what may have allegedly motivated the men to make the phony calls, but residents apparently found the reports disturbing.
“Prank calls happen, but you don’t expect it from cops,” McBee resident Briana Davenport told WOSC. “Because we’re supposed to be calling them to help us out.
“I think it’s messed up for it to happen like that.”
Chesterfield County Sheriff Cambo Streater said he is hurt by the actions of his deputies, but promised transparency as the allegations are investigated.
It was Streater, in fact, who called on SLED to investigate the trio, whom he put on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
“Some alleged activities were reported to me and due to the nature of them, I needed to get SLED to come in,” Streater told WPDE.
They were booked at Chesterfield County Detention Center on Monday and were released on $30,000 bonds.
If convicted, they could face up to five years behind bars.
It is unclear if any of the men have retained attorneys who could speak on their behalf.
With Post wires