GREAT FALLS, S.C. — An Upstate police chief has been booked into a South Carolina jail following an investigation by state agents.
According to a statement from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Great Falls Police Chief Jeremy Heath Vinson was charged with misconduct in office on Friday and booked into the Chester County Detention Center.
According to an arrest warrant for Vinson, the arrest was the result of alleged acts committed between Dec. 19, 2021, and June 17, 2022, in connection to the investigation, disposition, and prosecution of a hit-and-run incident.
The warrant states that Vinson "failed to properly and faithfully discharge the official duties imposed on him by law." In part, Vinson is accused of negotiating and disposing of the hit-and-run case in Great Falls Municipal Court "without the proper authority from the Sixth Circuit Solicitor's Office to do so."
The warrant goes on to say that Vinson didn't notify the victims of the negotiations and disposition of the case.
When interviewed by SLED agents, the warrant states that Vinson made false statements and altered his supplemental report to show that he had made attempts to contact the victims before the case was disposed of.
The warrant doesn't elaborate on what motive the chief had for neglecting to contact those involved in the case.
The case against Vinson will be prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.
