Johnson County Sheriff’s deputies search a man’s car along State Road 37 in May 2019. Daily Journal file photo
A Greenwood man was arrested for public intoxication after kicking a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office vehicle Tuesday.
Early Tuesday morning at approximately 1:48 a.m. a deputy was working in the Hickory Stick neighborhood in Greenwood when the unexpected interruption occurred.
According to the sheriff’s office, the deputy pulled into the clubhouse parking lot and observed an unoccupied white passenger car parked in the clubhouse parking lot. The deputy then parked his vehicle, turned off his headlights and began working on his laptop.
However, he was interrupted by a man kicking the driver’s side door and yelling. The man stated, “what are you doing,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The deputy exited his vehicle and confronted the man, who was identified as Thomas J. Blair IV, 56. Thomas, who was holding a mostly empty Stella Artois beer in one hand and a dog leash with the other hand, apologized when he realized he had accosted a police officer, according to the sheriff’s office.
Thomas added that he thought the deputy was a teenager about to do burnouts in the parking lot, according to the sheriff’s office.
As the parking lot was open to the general public and Thomas was deemed to have caused a breach of peace, he was placed into custody for public intoxication, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Duane Burgess asks the public to treat county property with respect and avoid kicking cars — whether a police car or not.
“We would also ask you not to kick Johnson County Sheriff’s Office vehicles as we do take pride in them and they do belong to Johnson County taxpayers,” Burgess said in a press release.
The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office will decide what, if any, charges to officially file for the incident.
All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
