North Charleston Cop Drama: Attempted Coverup

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Earlier this year, our media outlet reported on an incident at a North Charleston, South Carolina bar involving a powerful Lowcountry politician and a member of local law enforcement.

The drama began at 11:41 p.m. EST on February 24, 2024 when North Charleston Police Department (NCPD) sergeant James F. Ryan III was dispatched to The Montague Room – an establishment with ties to city councilman Jerome Heyward.

As our outlet previously reported, Ryan received several several noise complaints against the establishment – and as he approached its premises he detected “unreasonably loud” amplified music while stopped at a nearby intersection. The source of the noise was quickly traced to a cigar-smoking disc jockey operating two loudspeakers outside of Heyward’s business.

Upon arriving at the establishment, Ryan informed the disc jockey he was in violation of municipal code § 13-126 — which expressly prohibits unreasonably loud and disturbing noise between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.  At this point, it was 11:51 p.m. EST.

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Rather than adjust his volume per local law, the disc jockey pointed Ryan towards a purportedly intoxicated Heyward. The two-term councilman – holding a pink beverage and sporting a Ralph Lauren sweater – thereupon refused to turn off the R&B music.

“Let me tell you something,” Heyward declared, as recorded by Ryan’s body-worn camera. “I don’t feel like that tonight. The music is not bothering nobody.”

Heyward quickly became frustrated with the officer, telling him “you do what you gotta do – I ain’t turning my music off, period.”

When Ryan asked Heyward who should be cited for the noise violation, the councilman pointed to himself and said brusquely “you write me the ticket.” At this point, though, he promptly telephoned North Charleston deputy chief Karen Cordray, Ryan’s superior officer.

“You know, I don’t play no games,” Heyward said as he scrolled through his phone in search of Cordray’s number. “I’m gonna settle this once and for all.”

A few seconds later, Heyward handed the phone to the officer.

“Here’s your chief,” he said.

In the ensuing two-minute conversation, Ryan told his superior “we’ve got a legit noise complaint over here,” noting that Heyward had “already said he’s not turning his music off.”

Shortly thereafter, Heyward attempted to summon the officer using a derogatory term.

“Hey boy,” he called out. “Hey boy.”

(Click to view)

No citation was issued against the Montague Room because the disc jockey eventually began breaking down his equipment – and the noise stopped. Ryan advised Cordray he was merely going to write up a narrative of the incident which documented his response to the complaint – including his interactions with Heyward.

When North Charleston released the body-worn camera footage of the incident, Ryan’s narrative of the exchange was validated.

In the aftermath of the drama, however, Heyward filed a complaint with NCPD claiming Ryan “falsified” a police report and was “aggressive and threatening” during his visit to the establishment on February 24, 2024. Heyward also alleged that the rights of his patrons “were violated” when Ryan instructed the disc jockey “to turn off the music despite having no codified authority to do so.”

Heyward further accused Ryan of making “libelous” claims about him – including the assertion Heyward was “under the influence” at the time of the incident.

According to Heyward’s complalint, Ryan’s “seeming purpose” in allegedly falsifying the incident report was “to defame my reputation.”

Both an internal NCPD investigation – and an independent inquiry conducted by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – cleared Ryan of any misconduct. During the SLED inquiry, Heyward accused Ryan of being “racist and anti-black,” and accused him of fabricating the police report to defame his character “because of his race.” He asked SLED to arrest the officer for falsifying a police report and misconduct in office.

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While this investigation was underway, Ryan filed his own report with NCPD accusing Cordray of misconduct. According to the veteran officer, Cordray instructed him “to limit my incident report to just the facts of the noise complaint” and further instructed him to omit any details from the narrative regarding Heyward – putting that information in a separate “case management” file.

When Ryan indicated his intention to document Heyward’s behavior in a letter to the mayor’s office and the city’s legal department, Cordray is said to have told him such an action “would not be necessary.”

According to Ryan, Cordray’s alleged attempts to get him incident report – and to discourage him from contacting the mayor and the city’s legal department – were “unethical.” He further accused his superior officer of undermining him and defending Heyward.

“I am concerned that she is somehow beholden to him in a way that could be detrimental to the police department,” Ryan wrote in his complaint.

Cordray denied those allegations, saying she was merely providing Ryan with “feedback that he had requested.”

Of particular interest? Cordray appears to have reached out to Ryan on March 13, 2024 – the day after our media outlet submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding this incident – to ask if he “ever cleaned up the report.”

“Did you ever clean up the report you did on Montague Room?” Cordray texted Ryan, according to exhibits contained in his filing.

A subsequent text reiterated her previous instructions to him to “put the original in (case) management.”

In other words… to bury it.

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(NCPD)

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This is incredibly concerning conduct. According to North Charleston’s investigatory report into the matter (.pdf), Cordray’s directive to Ryan came after she acknowledged her agency’s receipt of our FOIA request. It is therefore, by all appearances, an attempt on her part not only to compel a subordinate to take improper actions for the benefit of an influential official – but to subvert our state’s open records law in the process.

This would be an absolute worst-case scenario for those who believe in the sanctity of public records.

FOIA exists to uncover the truth. But what is the point of the law if agencies can simply rewrite documents to their liking prior to releasing them?

Also of interest? The North Charleston report noted Cordray had “not been entirely truthful in her responses and has provided false or misleading information during the investigation.”

Also, the report noted the testimony of an officer who corroborated Ryan’s version of events. According to this officer, Cordray “pulled him aside” and questioned him about “rumors… that she had asked (Ryan) to change his report.”

“She clarified that she had only asked him to clean it up a little bit,” the report noted, citing the officer’s sworn statement.

Count on our media outlet to continue digging on this story as we seek to hold law enforcement leaders in the Palmetto State accountable for their actions.

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THE REPORT…

(NCPD)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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