DARIEN--A former McIntosh County sheriff plans to take legal action against the department he once served.The move comes after he was tasered and arrested when his son was pulled over for a traffic stop in Darien Saturday.
"He (the deputy) came after me and then he shot me with the taser," stated Charles Jones, who once served as McIntosh County for sixteen years.
Jones said he was sitting in the parking lot at Fred's discount store on Highway 17 when, ironically, he witnessed a deputy pull his son over for tinted windows in the same lot.
"Everything was legal. He’s had that truck for about 16 years,” stated Jones.
Jones said while trying to find out what was going on with his son, the deputy warned Jones that he was interfering with a traffic stop.
"I then backed up a couple of steps, and when I backed up a couple of steps, he told me I was arrested. I said I have to do something to be arrested,” stated Jones.
To avoid any trouble, Jones said he decided to get back into his truck but that's when things got ugly.
"When I walked around I had both hands in my pocket, and he grabbed me and swung me around and then he shot me with the taser," stated Jones.
Jones said he did nothing to encourage the deputy's force.
"I was not hostile," stated Jones.
In response to Jone's arrest, current Mcintosh County sheriff Stephen Jessup, issued this statement:
"Mr. Jones interfered with a routine traffic stop initiated by one of my deputies. This was the second such incident in the past 12 months, but this time Mr. Jones went over the line. This hindered my deputy from performing his lawful duties and as a result Mr. Jones was arrested for obstruction," stated Jessup.
"He (Jessup) wanted revenge on me," stated Jones. "His department has been trying to get a felony on me for a long time where I won't run for sheriff again," believes Jessup.
Jones now plans to take legal action.
"There needs to be a change in McIntosh County, and for me to change it, I'm going to leave that up to my attorneys," stressed Jones.
Jessup says the investigation is still ongoing and more charges could follow.
Jones' son was never arrested or even given a ticket. Jessup says the incident was recorded. However, the video isn’t being released at this time.
