Police dashcam video shows a NMB police officer and the wife of SC Rep. Tracy Edge having a 51 minute confrontation.
A circuit court judge ordered the City of North Myrtle Beach to release police dashcam video that shows a former police officer in a public confrontation with the wife of state Rep. Tracy Edge.
North Myrtle Beach Sgt. Jeff Senter was fired following the September 2010 incident involving Melissa Edge, although the exact reason for his termination was not released.
Judge Benjamin Culbertson ordered the video be released to the public, even though the city and Senter requested it be kept private. They said because it involves both personal and personnel matters, it is exempt under South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act, according to North Myrtle Beach Public Information Officer Pat Dowling.
The Sun News and William Bailey, the city's former public safety director, sued North Myrtle Beach on Oct. 19, 2010 claiming the video is a public document under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Culbertson heard arguments in the case last week.
The judge agreed. According to The Sun News, the judge said in his order, "The police officer activated the dashcam recorder to document Mrs. Edge's combativeness and her alleged intoxication...Furthermore, Mrs. Edge knew that her actions were being recorded by the police officer."
"On the video, Mrs. Edge voluntarily states that she and the police officer had an affair that included rendezvous while the police officer was on duty," the order states. "Mrs. Edge also admits that she had been drinking alcohol. The police officer threatens Mrs. Edge with arrest for being disruptive in public and refuses to let her drive from the scene, claiming she is intoxicated.
You can read The Sun News article here.
We reviewed the 51 minute video at NewsChannel 15 and decided not to post the video because of the private nature of the discussion between Senter and Melissa Edge. Some may ask, why not edit the video and post the portions that relate to the allegations of Edge being intoxicated? The answer to that question is this: The amount of editing we would have to do to the video to pull out the parts that have news value, would inherently alter the overall video. It would no longer be an accurate representation of what occurred. The elements would be taken out of context.
What we learned from the tape is that early in the evening of September 14, 2010, Sgt. Senter was standing outside a fire station in North Myrtle Beach talking to a firefighter when Edge drove up.
About 21 minutes into the tape, you can hear Senter accusing Edge of being drunk. She denies the allegation and threatens his job. He asks for her keys and says that he'll call her husband to pick her up.
A few minutes later the firefighter accuses her of being drunk. She admits to having a few drinks, but denies being drunk. She tells Senter to give her a sobriety test. He does not do so and says her husband is on the way to pick her up and take her home.
When Rep. Edge arrives on scene, his voice is heard, but he is never on camera. Senter moves Melissa Edge's car to a legal parking place and Rep. Edge takes her home.
The video ends a short time later.
