3 deputies arrested after making hoax phone calls about dead bodies, warrants say

CHESTERFIELD, S.C. — Three South Carolina sheriff’s deputies have been arrested after reporting a dead body in what investigators said were hoax calls in four small towns.

The Chesterfield County deputies were charged Monday with misconduct in office, criminal conspiracy and aggravated breach of the peace, according to arrest warrants from the State Law Enforcement Division.

Five calls reporting a body were made to a convenience store or to police on Feb. 4 in the small towns of Cheraw, Chesterfield, McBee and Pageland, all of which are in Chesterfield County, investigators said.

In both cases, officers and other first responders responded until the reports were determined to be untrue, the arrest warrants said.

Investigators did not say why the calls were made or released any additional details.

Court records did not indicate whether the deputies had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.

A statement from state troopers referred to the three arrested men as “former deputies,” but the sheriff’s office did not confirm that they had been fired after saying they were suspended last week.

Chesterfield County is located approximately 75 miles northeast of Columbia. The county has more than 50 sworn officers in the sheriff’s office who protect its 43,000 residents.