News 12 at 11 o'clock / Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012

NORWAY, S.C. -- Given a chance to give his side of the story, the mayor of a South Carolina town chose not to comment about the latest batch of allegations against him.

"It's been said and rehashed. I just don't have any comment," he said.

News 12 asked the mayor if he had anything to say at all.

"Yeah! We need some businesses and people to come to Norway. It's a fine town," he said.

James Preacher is the mayor of the small town of Norway, where only a few days ago he was pulled over by a trooper for speeding.

"[The trooper] asked for his driver's license and registration and proceeded to write him a ticket for speeding 70 in a 55," said Sid Gaulden.

Gaulden is the spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, which oversees the South Carolina Highway Patrol. He says the trooper wrote Mayor Preacher a citation and got back in his car. However, it's what happened next that led his agency to ask for SLED to step in.

"Trooper got into his car. As he did so, the mayor made a quick U-turn pulled in behind the trooper and turned on his blue lights. Trooper started to pull off until the mayor turned on the siren," Gaulden said.

He says Preacher took the trooper's license and registration and then asked him to report to town hall for a citation, but the trooper refused. Mayor Preacher says he's also the constable of the town. He told the trooper he was pursuing a vehicle that was involved in an attempted robbery of a nearby gas station.

"I'm sure it'll get worked out. I have no comment," Preacher said.

Now, Gaulden's agency wants to know if the mayor actually has law enforcement authority.

"I know as a certified law enforcement officer, which he was at one time, and he still may well be, you have to undergo a lot of training for that," he said.

Preacher has a troubled history. In 2009, he was police chief in nearby Ehrhardt. He was sued for allegedly tasering a man after a small disagreement. That civil suit has since been dismissed by a judge.

In 2010, he also became Mayor of Norway, while still holding his job as Ehrhardt Police Chief. The Attorney General said that was a violation of the state constitution, and he lost both jobs.

When the new police chief in Ehrhardt took inventory, he noticed various items missing including evidence and a bulletproof vest. SLED was called to investigate.

At the end of 2010, he was elected a mayor of Norway yet again. The former mayor accused him of breaking and entering into town hall before being sworn in earlier this year.

Now, Preacher says he's a constable, too, yet the council never voted to give him that role.