By Live 5 Web Staff | July 6, 2020 at 2:28 PM EDT - Updated July 6 at 2:28 PM
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - The Mount Pleasant Police Department terminated one of its officers Friday after Charleston County dispatchers received a 911 call about the officer apparently passed on in a vehicle with an open beer can.
Matt Kinard was charged with public intoxication, Inspector Donald Calabrese said.
Police responded at approximately 11:20 a.m. Friday to the area of Faison Road near the East Cooper Airport to find a marked Mount Pleasant Police SUV with Kinard passed out in the vehicle with an open beer can between his legs, Calabrese said.
The officers notified the other on-duty supervisor who responded to the scene and escorted Kinard back to the Mount Pleasant Police Department. There, he was met by the operations captain and a lieutenant from the Office of Professional Standards, Calabrese said.
“It was determined Sergeant Kinard was intoxicated while on duty, and had passed out in his marked police SUV,” Calabrese said.
Chief Carl Ritchie immediately terminated Kinard.
“The criminal consequences are consistent with those a non-law enforcement member of our community would be exposed to and we should not be expected to be treated differently in this circumstance,” Ritchie said. “I am very disappointed that one of our police supervisors would conduct himself in this manner.”
Kinard was released on a courtesy summons, Calabrese said.
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