South Carolina police chief accosted family while 'calling them a racial slur and flashing his badge': witnesses

The former police chief of Easley, South Carolina is out of a job after witnesses say he hurled racial slurs at a local family.

Local news station Fox Carolina reports that Easley Police Chief Stan Whitten has been fired after initially being put on leave after witnesses said that he got into a fight with a local man in front of the man's family while they were both boating at a local lake.

"The argument reportedly started when the man asked Whitten to pull his truck up so he and his family could leave the boat ramp," writes Fox Carolina. At this time, Whitten got out of his vehicle and started yelling profanities and racial slurs at the man, according to the report.

Deputies who arrived on the scene said that the man's family appeared to be "very scared" by Whitten's behavior, and the man's fiancé told the deputies that Whitten "approached them calling them a racial slur and flashing his badge."

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After interviewing Whitten, deputies said that he "appeared to be intoxicated" and the chief "admitted to drinking a few beers."

When asked by deputies why he used a racial slur against the family, the chief replied, "Because I can."