Robert Deal: Didnt your momma tell you it was a sin to tell a lie? Heres the letter you sent the chief about Thad Stuckey: From: Robert Deal Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 10:09 PM To: Dennis Brown Subject: Folly Beach Playground - Roy T. Stuckey Dear Chief, I am writing you to let you know my thoughts and possible amendments that I am thinking about with regards to the pending case involving Roy Thaddeus Stuckey. The current charge on Roy Stuckey is Leaving Scene with Property Damage (Unattended). This was written on State Citation 37947 FT on 09/10/2011. During my interview with Roy Stuckey and his appointed council it was clear that they are not willing to place him in the drivers seat of the vehicle during the incident. However during the interview Roy Stuckey did make an utterance stating, there were four of us in the vehicle. It is of my opinion that this utterance was not approved by his council and will be used in making the charge that I am leaning towards with regards to this incident. I have given great thought on how to proceed with this case and have reached out to several veteran SC Highway Patrol Officers to see what there thoughts are on the proper charge for this case. They all agreed that it would be hard to prove that he drove the vehicle and caused the crash, which we knew, but they also feel that I will still have a hard time getting a conviction for the charge that I have already cited him. I explained to them that his insurance is in the process of paying for the damages and per a conversation with Eric Lutz, there have been no issues thus far with the city getting compensated for the damages and the possible upgrades to the Folly Beach Play Ground. The suggestions that I have gotten is to drop the current citation and either cite a different offense if I can find one or let it go with the understanding that the insurance will take care of the damages. Now I have an issue with letting him totally off the hook and I know from some of the grumblings that I have heard about from City Council that this may not be a wise choice. Roy Stuckey has a terrible driving history and was just cited by PSO Bowman prior to the incident for Driving Under Suspension and Speeding. PSO Bowmans court date is set for the week after mine and per DMV his license was reinstated after PSO Bowmans stop and before the incident in question. Well after great research and thought, I have decided that I am looking at remanding the current citation to a Folly Beach City Ordinance 94.02, which is Removal of Weeds, Trash, and The Like. 94.02 - (A) Cleaning a lot shall consist of cutting and removing therefrom all high grass over 12 inches high, bushes or weeds, and also any trash and automobiles that are a health and safety hazard, unused mechanical equipment, or other debris of any description which may be on the property owners land. (B) Any automobile shall be deemed a health and safety hazard if the automobile is left unused and is not in operating condition, or becomes a haven for animals or vermin, or is overgrown with vegetation, or is a danger to small children. What I am thinking is using the subsection (B) to cite him under this ordinance with the thinking that Roy Stuckey is the vehicle owner and when it was left at the Folly Beach Play Ground that was left in an unused and in a non-operating condition. In addition with it being unstable on the ruble that was under the vehicle from the accident it would present a danger to small children that may want to use the park if we had not found it. Now the amount of the bond that I was going to use according to Folly Beach City Ordinance 10.99, which is General Penalty, I would cite him the max fine of $500.00 and let the judge rule if he wished to lower it or not. The sitting judge for this court date is Judge John and from my personal knowledge and history thus far he is tough on littering and this would fall under that pretense. I think if this course of action is taken we will be able to kill several birds with one stone. It will show that we dealt with the incident and made the correct and appropriate charge and it gets the playground fixed and back open to the kids of Folly Beach. In addition there would be no criminal history with this amended citation and the city will still receive some fine monies holding Roy Stuckey accountable for his actions. I forward this to you to get your personal feelings and insight on my purposed course of action with regards to this incident since I know there is some people out there that are waiting to see what we do with regards to Roy Stuckey. Please feel free to make comments or call me with your thoughts or impressions. Respectfully, PSO Robert David Deal Jr. Folly Beach Public Safety 21 Center Street P.O. Box 48 Folly Beach, SC 29439 Phone - (843) 588-7003 Fax - (843) 588-7009
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 00:40:17 +0000
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