A South Carolina man was arrested Dec. 2 on multiple charges after an armed confrontation with Greene County deputies near the Durhamtown Off Road Resort.
Jeffery Chester Smith, 65, of Conway, S.C., has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, criminal trespass, obstruction, and two counts of terroristic threats and acts.
According to reports, Greene County Deputy Alfred Flores was dispatched to 2350 Randolph Church Rd. at around 4 p.m. last Tuesday in reference to a subject producing a firearm and threatening people.
Witnesses told Flores that someone went into a camper on the property and threw the owner’s belongings on the ground. One witness said he had observed another coworker, known only as Jeff, walking away from the camper earlier.
The witnesses said they went to Smith’s RV to confront him about going into the man’s camper without permission, but he refused to come out. He then became confrontational, according to the report, and produced a firearm. The witnesses said Smith pointed the pistol at them and said he would kill them. The two witnesses expressed concern about Smith remaining on the property due to his behavior.
Flores waited for Sgt. Leo Sierra is to arrive before attempting to make contact with Smith.
According to Flores, Smith came to the door of the camper and told Sierra a Greensboro man owed him money and then refused to exit the RV.
After a brief discussion, Smith closed the curtain on the door and told the deputies to leave.
Flores said Smith started the RV, and he and Sierra returned to their patrol vehicle because they expected him to try to drive away.
Once they realized the RV was not moving, he and Sierra and took tactical positions around the RV and waited for other units to arrive.
Flores said Smith would periodically go to a small window near the RV door and yell for the deputies to leave him alone.
Spike strips were placed in front of the rear tires of the RV in case the RV pulled off from where it was sitting.
Lt. Patrick Paquette arrived on scene and took a tactical position in front of the RV.
Paquette gave several verbal commands for Smith to exit the RV over his patrol car’s loudspeaker, but to no avail. Sgt. Christian Hall and Deputy Josh Corwin then arrived to assist.
As the confrontation dragged on, Smith “would reestablish verbal contact with law enforcement personnel on scene but would abruptly terminate the contact, tell everyone to leave him alone, and return to the interior of the camper,” according to the report.
At one point, Smith emerged from the camper, and Flores prevented him from going back inside, where he would have access to the firearm.
Flores then placed Smith on the ground as he and other deputies took Smith into custody. He was then transported to the Greene County Jail.
Smith’s dog had exited the RV during the incident and became confrontational with deputies. Greene County Animal Control was contacted to respond to the scene and take possession of the dog.
Animal Control personnel were unsuccessful in capturing the dog and said they would attempt to trap it.