S.C. mayor stopped for speeding, pulls over same trooper moments later

(CBS/AP) NORWAY, S.C. - The mayor of Norway, South Carolina, claims he had every legal right to pull over a state trooper, after the trooper had just pulled him over for speeding.

The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reports that after Norway Mayor Jim Preacher was stopped for speeding by a state trooper on Jan. 18, the mayor turned on the blue lights and siren in his own vehicle and caught up with the same trooper.

Preacher doesn't deny he was speeding in the first place, but says he was acting in his capacity as the town's chief constable, pursing a vehicle believed to have been involved in an attempted robbery at the Horizon gas station just outside of Norway.

The state Department of Public Safety has asked South Carolina's Law Enforcement Division to look into whether Norway's mayor does indeed have powers of law enforcement. The town council disbanded the Norway Police Department last year.

Preacher told the Times and Democrat newspaper Friday that the state Criminal Justice Academy gave him a "clear status" to serve as the town's chief constable. He said he had "some makeup work to do" to be recertified as a law enforcement officer but has a year to complete that work.

After the mayor pulled over the trooper last Wednesday, Preacher walked up to the trooper's car window and asked for his driver's license and registration, which the trooper gave to him. After some hesitation, Preacher supposedly returned the license and registration and left the scene.

Sid Gaulden, a state police spokesman, said, "Apparently, Preacher requested the trooper, at some point, to follow him to town hall where he would issue the trooper a summons, which the trooper refused to do."

Preacher denies he told the trooper to follow him to town hall so he could issue a summons.

Now, it's up to the state to figure out whether the mayor crossed the line.