North Myrtle Beach police sergeant arrested for DUI, placed on administrative duty

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A North Myrtle Beach police sergeant has been placed on administrative duty after being arrested earlier this month.

The North Myrtle Beach Police Department told WMBF News in a statement that Sgt. Chris King’s arrest came after he was involved in an accident while off duty on Sept. 7 in Surfside Beach.

A police report from the Surfside Beach Police Department states the crash happened on Highway 17. An officer was told that a Jeep Wrangler was seen cutting across the highway and collided with a Ford Mustang, ultimately ending up on top of it.

The witness then said they saw a man, later identified as King, get out of the vehicle from the rear and didn’t return to the scene of the accident. A woman was also in the Jeep and claimed to be driving, but two more witnesses both described King as the alleged driver.

A second officer spoke to the woman King was with, who claimed she was driving him home.

Police were later able to find King at his home in Surfside Beach, where the witnesses once again positively identified him as the driver. King, however, insisted he was the passenger and was not driving.

When asked why he ran from the scene, King stated that it was because the woman he was with was his ex and that “he didn’t want to be in trouble with his wife.” He added that his ex was taking him home. He then denied a field sobriety test, still claiming he was the passenger. Police noted King also said he only had “two or three light beers.”

King was then placed into custody and taken to a hospital for his injuries.

The Surfside Beach officer also noted that King “pointed out a red mark that was about the size of a seatbelt on his right upper biceps area claiming it was proof he was in the passenger seat.” That, however, was disputed by police in the report.

“The area of the injury did not appear consistent with where a shoulder belt would naturally sit,” the officer wrote. “The suspect also had several other injuries due to the severity of the collision, making it unclear as to how the mark on his upper right biceps actually manifested.”

More documents state the woman King was with was interviewed the following day by another Surfside Beach police officer working the case.

During that interview, she said King “was golfing all day and told her had been drinking” prior to them meeting up. She also said King was driving in the interview, saying she tried to cover for him “because he was a police officer and didn’t want to get him into trouble.”

Records show King is charged with driving under the influence and hit-and-run involving property damage. He was released from the J. Reuben Long Detention Center a day after his arrest on a nearly $2,000 bond.

The NMBPD said King is an eight-year veteran of the department and currently serves as the supervisor of its traffic division. The department added that an internal investigation is ongoing.

Records from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy show King was previously an officer with the Surfside Beach Police Department from 2006 until 2015.

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