SWANSEA, S.C. — The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigating the Swansea police chief after a man said he was the victim of excessive force.
"What would you do if you get skinned up and beat up? You would sit back and let it roll over? Nuh-Uh, not me. Darn right, I'm pressing charges," said Joe Phillips, who was arrested.
Seventy-eight-year-old Phillips told News19 he was arrested after he went to the police station to report an officer that he says was speeding in a law enforcement vehicle with no lights or sirens to signal an emergency.
Phillips has lived in Swansea all his life. Working in West Columbia, Phillips drives on Highway 321 every day. But he said March 30 was different.
"I was just stopped at the stop sign and I look behind me and there's a patrol car back there, alright?" Phillips said. "Whenever the light changed, all the sudden the patrolman, he flew by me like I was tied on."
Phillips said that, when he arrived at the station, he sat in his car while Police Chief Earl Williams III spoke with him about the incident. That conversation led to Phillips being dragged out of his car and tackled to the ground afterward.
Phillips admits that, during the conversation, he called Chief Williams a liar.
"He said, 'You under arrest,'" Phillips said. "I said 'No I ain't under arrest because I didn't do nothing.' I sat right here in my truck, in my seat, and I didn't move."
Phillips said that's when the chief got more aggressive and forced him out of his vehicle.
"He reached in my window and put my truck in park and took the key switch out and opened the door to pull me out," Phillips said. "Then he grabbed my peg leg which I got a false leg right there. He caught it and tried to pull me out. He finally pulled me out by it—twisted it up and everything. He skint me all up, you see my arm right there, everything. You see my head? All that's bled up. My leg right down there is skinned up."
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Phillips said he requested to be taken to the hospital for his injuries but Chief Williams allegedly told him no.
"He said you ain't going to the hospital," Phillips said. "The rescue people got there and he told them not to take me to the hospital. They went in the back and when they came back, the fellas told me 'Yes, we're taking you to the hospital.'"
After the incident, Phillips filed a complaint with the town.
Swansea Councilwoman Doris Simmons said she's never received a complaint in the past.
"We're trying to protect the people and the town," Councilwoman Simmons said. "We want to make sure that everything is in place the way that it's supposed to be."
Councilwoman Simmons told News19 that the council is considering a meeting to discuss the next steps for this incident.
News19 reached out to Chief Williams for comment and received the following statement:
"The incident has been passed on to SLED for further investigation. I would just say stand by and wait on that. Once the investigation is complete by SLED, I will be doing a press conference but these are totally false accusations and they will be shown as sane after the investigation by SLED."
Phillips is being charged with resisting arrest and is set to appear in court in May.