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ARRESTING OFFICER, WHO WAS RECENTLY ARRESTED, FAILED TO SHOW IN COURT
The disgraced, suspended mayor of the troubled town of Atlantic Beach had two of the criminal charges against her dropped last week on a technicality.
A judge absolved Retha Pierce of disorderly conduct and trespassing charges — which occurred in March when she went on a tirade at City Hall because the town wouldn’t give her an office — because the arresting officer failed to show up in court.
The officer’s failure to show up could have something to do with the fact that he is the police chief and he himself was arrested last month for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
Pierce also faces charges in three separate incidents including reckless driving and failing to properly signal, hit and run, and DUI.
Gov. Mark Sanford suspended her for the latter arrest, calling it a crime of moral turpitude.
Photo: Janet Blackmon Morgan (Myrtle Beach Sun News)
While true that the police chief was arrested as reported, and suspended without pay by the Town Manager, it was another Town officer that placed the handcuffs on Pierce and signed the arrest paperwork.
That officer quit the force just days before Pierce’s scheduled trial and it was that officer’s failure to appear that led to the judge dismissing both charges for failure to prosecute.