Every state has them, you know that small town police chief that thinks they own the world.
In Newton Grove, North Carolina, it is the police chief who choked his wife during an argument on Wednesday, suggesting it was his legal right to do so.
“I’m the fucking chief,” Newton Grove Police Chief told Johnston County sheriff’s deputies who responded to a 911 call that he was abusing his wife.
The 48-year-old man was arrested on domestic violence charges anyway.
It all started when Harrrell’s wife was sitting in her van Wednesday afternoon on a phone call with her brother when her husband stepped outside their shared home and became agitated, The Daily Record reports.
Harrell then told his wife, “I have guns” before making a gesture with his hand like a gun.
As their two young children watched, Harrell then grabbed his wife by the neck. Johnston County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the couple’s home where the chief said, “Big deal, that ain’t no assault.”
As deputies asked Harrell to confirm his identity, he said, “I’m the fucking chief.”
Deputies say they observed red marks on the wife’s neck. Harrell also played deputies an audio recording from an earlier fight between the couple. In that recording Harrell is heard calling his wife a, “Goddamn bitch.”
Harrell eventually decided to stop speaking with deputies on scene and instead demanded a lawyer. When deputies handcuffed Harrell he told deputies:
“This is fucking bull shit. You’re not looking after me.”
Harrell told a magistrate that he felt unsafe being held in the county jail, so Harrell was released on a $1,000 bond, and the magistrate ordered him not to have any contact with his wife.
Harrell has been the police chief in Newton Grove since 2004. Prior to joining the department, he was a school resource officer with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office at Smithfield-Selma High and also worked with the Pine Level Police Department.