SC sheriff’s deputy terminated after being arrested in domestic violence incident
A South Carolina deputy who had worked in Lancaster County was terminated after being arrested and charged in a domestic violence incident Thursday in Kershaw County, according to a statement from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.
Marcus B. Pressley Jr., was charged Thursday night by Kershaw County deputies, Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said in a news release on Friday.
Pressley was charged with first degree domestic violence and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Pressley was charged, “with an offense or offenses arising from a domestic violence incident at his home in Kershaw County,” Faile’s statement said.
An incident report released by the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department alleged that after drinking half of a fifth of bourbon, Pressley threw items around the couple’s camper and repeatedly pushed his wife with a gun in his hand.
He then placed his hand on her throat, telling her “I’m about to show you.”
Kershaw County is south of Lancaster County and east of Richland County and Columbia.
On Friday, the Kershaw County Detention Center website listed Marcus Barnwell Pressley Jr., 30, as being in custody, but did not list what charge or charges he faces. The site listed his case as an “unspecified warrant, current hold.”
A bond hearing was scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at the Kershaw County Detention Center.
The alleged confrontation
Around 7 p.m. on Thursday, officers from the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a domestic violence incident on Cantey Hill Lane in Camden.
The alleged victim, Pressley’s wife, was hiding from him behind a shed in the woods, according to an incident report written by Lancaster County sheriff’s deputy Sergeant Dustin Tate. She was dressed only in a t-shirt and shorts, despite the temperature being 29 degrees.
Pressley was missing from the scene and deputies were on the phone with him, trying to convince him to turn himself in.
Speaking to deputies, the victim, whose name is redacted from the report, said Pressley’s drinking had become a source of tension between the two. He had allegedly switched from drinking beer to drinking liquor, according to his wife. That afternoon, Pressley and the victim had picked up her 15-year-old brother from school and, on the way home, Pressley had bought a fifth of Wild Turkey whiskey, according to the report.
When they got home, the victim told deputies that while Pressley prepared dinner she had gone to the bedroom to separate herself because she did not want him drinking. Pressley’s wife told deputies that she and her husband didn’t speak much during dinner “because of the issue at hand with the alcohol.”
Tate wrote in his report that the Wild Turkey bottle purchased that evening was more than half empty.
Pressley’s wife said that as she was washing dishes after dinner, Pressley threw something at her. When she threw it back, “it was like a light switch got switched and the suspect (Pressley) became a different person entirely.”
“His eyes appeared darker” and Pressley allegedly grew “irate” with the victim and told her to take her brother home. When she returned from taking her brother next door, the victim told deputies that Pressley began throwing things around the camper, including Christmas decorations and a fire extinguisher. In his report, Tate wrote that he took photographs of these items “in disarray” in the couple’s home.
Pressley then allegedly pushed the victim, before getting a handgun from his truck.
“I’m about to show you,” Pressley allegedly said, while pushing her again and holding the handgun, according to the incident report.
Surveillance camera footage deleted
Pressley then allegedly placed his hand on her throat and began pushing her back by the throat. When the victim went to retrieve surveillance camera footage from the family’s home, she found that all of the footage from that day after 9 a.m. had been deleted.
A sergeant from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office was able to make contact with Pressley and convinced himself to speak with deputies.
In his report, Tate wrote that he could “smell a strong odor of alcohol” coming from Pressley. However, when asked how much he had to drink, Pressley said “three sips.”
Pressley denied being involved in a domestic violence incident and was ultimately arrested and transported to the Kershaw County Detention Center.
Suspect worked with Lancaster sheriff’s office
Pressley worked with the Lancaster sheriff’s office since 2015, first as a corrections officer, officials said. He had been a patrol deputy since 2016, Faile said.
In the statement, Faile said Pressley was notified that he was no longer employed with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.
“I learned of this incident just after it happened last night,” Faile said in a statement. “I was briefed on the incident and determined that Mr. Pressley’s employment as a Lancaster County sheriff’s deputy would be terminated.
