JACKSONVILLE — A deputy with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office shown in a viral YouTube video “brake checking” a South Carolina motorist last week said that video doesn’t tell the whole story.
Craig Culpepper, who originally tendered his resignation but has now accepted a job as a jailer in Onslow County, said he was wrong, but that there is much more to the situation than shown in the video.
Culpepper was returning from K9 training in South Carolina when he became embroiled in a road rage conflict with a Summerville, S.C., resident. The resident, Chad Walton, made a similar but unfounded complaint about a North Charleston police officer last year, according to The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.
Walton also pleaded guilty to a charge of being a habitual traffic offender and received two years probation in 2006, according to the records on file with the Dorchester, S.C., First Judicial Circuit Court.
Walton told local media outlets that Culpepper drove away without stopping after Culpepper hit his brakes while Walton was traveling closely behind him, a practice known as brake checking, which is typically done when the trailing car is tailgating. Walton’s vehicle then hit the back of Culpepper’s cruiser.
Walton called 911, and the North Charleston Police Department responded. Culpepper was not ticketed, but was listed as being at fault in the wreck. South Carolina doesn’t have specific laws against aggressive driving, according to the S.C. Office of Highway Safety.
Culpepper told The Daily News of Jacksonville that he was traveling on S.C. 526 in North Charleston at around 6:25 p.m. March 18. Behind him, he saw a Ford truck — later identified as belonging to Walton — moving back and forth from left to right lane passing vehicles. The truck then got directly behind Culpepper, very close to his bumper.
“I was very surprised by this move as I was driving a marked patrol car. This is not my ego being surprised; it was the lack of regard for the law enforcement symbol itself,” Culpepper said.
He said he tapped his brakes to let the driver of the truck know he didn’t appreciate being followed that closely. When the driver didn’t back off, Culpepper said he activated the rear facing lights on his cruiser’s light bar.
At that time Culpepper had pulled alongside another vehicle in the right lane.
Culpepper said that vehicle was traveling near the same speed. Culpepper said his cruise control was set at 60 mph, the posted speed limit. He said his speed is verifiable by GPS tracking equipment in his cruiser.
This is when Walton began to film the incident, Culpepper said.
When a third lane opened to the far right, Walton passed Culpepper and the other vehicle.
Culpepper said the video doesn’t show that the driver of the middle vehicle became nervous at Walton’s actions and slowed down to get away from him.
Walton then crossed back over to the far left lane in front of Culpepper.
It’s here that Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said Walton should have just driven on.
“I was able to move to the middle lane and attempted to pass the truck,” Culpepper said. He said he wanted to just drive away from Walton. But as he sped up, Walton began to pick up speed as well.
Culpepper said that left him with three options: remain behind Walton, stay ahead of Walton by going faster in the slow lane or slowing down.
“Yes, I had the option of slowing down, but it puts me back behind the truck and that did not seem to be the place to be at the time,” Culpepper said.
He said he sped up and moved into the left-hand lane in front of Walton.
“I did tap my brakes again to provide the driver of the truck with the knowledge that I was not interested in playing a game of tag in traffic,” Culpepper said. “If you listen to the video, he is accelerating and drove into the rear of my patrol car.”
Culpepper said his actions were not appropriate.
“My actions on the road that day were wrong and I should have handled the situation differently,” he said. “Any action other than what I took would have been appropriate; I made a bad choice.”
Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or lindell.kay@jdnews.com.
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Want to see the video? Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HROigWi-CcU; warning: coarse language is used in the video.