A Union resident has been fired as an investigator with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office after being arrested for allegedly attacking two women during incident early Sunday morning.
Donald Ray Nix, 43, 151 Douglass Heights, Union, is charged by the Union Public Safety Department with ABC violation, disorderly conduct and two counts of assault and battery third-degree.
Nix is one of four men arrested in connection with an incident that occurred just after midnight Sunday at a residence at 301 Richard St., Union. Ryan Curtis Goodman, 39, 121 N. Church St., Union; Chad T. Lawter, 30, 305 Third St., Union; and Elijah Shane Dantzler, 26, 128 Childress Road, Spartanburg are each charged by the public safety department with disorderly conduct. Goodman is also charged with ABC violation.
At the time of his arrest, Nix was an investigator with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Richard Smith said Tuesday morning that Nix was dismissed Monday following an internal investigation into the incident that took place Sunday morning.
“He no longer works for the Chester County Sheriff’s Office,” Smith said. “We conducted an internal investigation and we don’t condone or tolerate this type of behavior.”
Smith would not comment further on the investigation and its findings since it involves a personnel matter. He did say that Nix had been employed by his office as an investigator for approximately five years.
Officers Dispatched
The incident report filed by the Union Public Safety Department states that just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday officers were dispatched to a residence at the corner of Richard Street and Stutts Avenue in response to a report of a fight in progress. When the first officer arrived on the scene, he observed a disturbance in the backyard of the residence at 301 Richard St. involving several individuals. The officer noticed that one individual was standing in the roadway, bleeding from the face and being very loud and boisterous. The man attempted to leave the scene in a white Dodge Ram pickup driven by another individual.
The officer told the man he was not going to leave the scene and asked him what had happened. The report states the man became irate toward the officer and insisted that he was leaving. By this time two more officers had arrived on the scene and they walked over to where the first officer was standing with the man who’d attempted to leave. The report states the officers identified the man as Nix who is described as still being loud and boisterous. Officers told Nix several times to calm down but the report states he became more irate and hostile toward the officers. It states he even got in one officer’s face as if he was going to hit him. The officer told Nix several times to get out of his face and to calm down.
The report states that officers noticed that Nix had a strong odor of alcohol about his person and that due to his demeanor and actions it was obvious that he was very intoxicated.
Even as the officers were dealing with Nix, the report states there were several other individuals behind them screaming and yelling. After they got Nix to calm down, officers were then able to get the other individuals to settle down. After getting the situation under control, officers began their investigation.
Complainant Questioned
The first person questioned was the complainant who informed officers that she was standing at the back door of her residence when she heard a disturbance. The complainant said she saw several individuals cursing and yelling in the backyard of 301 Richard St. She said the driver of the Dodge Ram started blowing the vehicle’s horn repeatedly. The complainant said the argument then turned into a physical altercation on the back porch of the residence. She said she was unable to see who was actually fighting from where she was standing, but she could tell a fight was definitely in progress.
The Accused
Nix was then questioned and told officers that he’d been assaulted by Dantzler and Lawter. He said Dantzler came into the residence’s kitchen very upset at being left at a local bar. Nix said Dantzler punched him in the face while they were in the kitchen and that Lawter then came in and started swinging at him.
The report states that Nix had suffered injuries to his face and that there was evidence that a physical altercation had taken place.
When he was questioned, the report states Dantzler said he’d started the fight between him and Nix by throwing the first punch. Dantzler said he was upset at having been left at the bar by Nix and a woman. He said the fight started in the kitchen and ended up, first, on the back porch, and then in the backyard.
Officers noticed that Dantzler’s left eye was red and swelling and that he had a strong odor of alcohol about his person.
Lawter told officers that he was just trying to break up the fight between Nix and Dantzler by grabbing Nix while they were in the backyard. He said that sometime during the incident he was lying on the bed with one of the victims. Lawter said that Nix came into the bedroom, grabbed the woman by the hair, and jerked her out of the bed.
While questioning Lawter, the report states officers noticed a strong odor of alcohol about his person. They did not, however, notice any injuries or marks upon Lawter.
Goodman was then questioned and told officers that he’d been trying to break up the fight between Nix and Dantzler. He said he had nothing to do with the incident, but that he had been assaulted by Dantzler while standing in the kitchen.
As they questioned him, the report states officers noticed a strong odor of alcohol about Goodman’s person.
First Victim
The woman who Nix allegedly dragged from the bed by the hair told officers that she’d driven Dantzler from the bar to the residence. The woman said Dantzler was upset that he’d been left at the bar by Nix and another woman. She said Dantzler ran into the house and started arguing with Nix and Goodman. The woman said Dantzler then hit Nix and Goodman while they were in the kitchen. She said that Nix got up and started swinging at Dantzler and that was when another man tried to break it up. The woman said Nix then turned his anger on the woman who Dantzler had also accused of leaving him at the bar. She said he threw the woman to the floor and got on top of her. At that point Lawter came in and grabbed Nix to try to get him off the woman.
The woman said that during the incident she’d been in the bedroom with Lawter and that Nix had came into the room and grabbed her by the hair and pulled her out of the bed. She said the man who’d attempted to break up the fight between Dantzler and Nix tried to get Nix to leave but he’d refused.
Second Victim
The second victim told officers that Dantzler came in the house and started fighting Nix. She said the fight continued into the backyard. The woman said that while they were fighting, the woman whom Dantzler said had left him at the bar tried to break up the fight and got pushed away by Nix, falling on her backside in the yard. The woman said her husband then attempted to break up the fight. She said that Lawter had Nix in a bear hug on the ground and that Goodman came up and started kicking Lawter.
After the fight was broken up, the woman said she and her husband went back in the house. They were followed by Nix who the woman said began arguing with her husband. She said she got in between Nix and her husband and that was when Nix punched her in the face.
Officers observed redness on the right side of the victim’s face and photographed it.
Witnesses
The first witness — the woman who Dantzler claimed had, along with Nix, left him at the bar — questioned told officers that Dantzler and Mix had started fighting in the house and continued doing so in the backyard. She said that Nix was only defending himself and that she had tried to break up the fight. The woman said Nix told her that Dantzler had knocked out one of his teeth. She said as they continued to fight Lawter and the second victim’s husband attempted to break up the fight. The woman said the victim’s husband grabbed Dantzler while Lawter grabbed Nix.
The witness said Lawter had Nix in a bear hug on the ground yelling at him to stop, that they were all friends. She said it was at this point that Goodman started kicking Lawter, trying to get him off Nix. The report states the woman never told officers that Nix had thrown her down or became hostile towards her.
The second witness — the husband of the second victim — questioned told officers that Nix and Dantzler were fighting in the backyard and that he’d grabbed Dantzler while Lawter grabbed Nix in an attempt to break up the fight. While he was trying to hold Dantzler, the witness said Goodman ran over and started kicking Dantzler in the face. He said he also pleaded with Nix to leave but that Nix refused to do so.
When he walked back into the house, the second witness said Nix followed him in and they got into an argument. He said his wife got in between them and that Nix had punched her in the face.
A third witness questioned told officers that the only thing he saw was the second witness and Nix arguing in the kitchen with the second witness trying to get Nix to leave. The third witness said he also tried to get Nix to leave but he refused to do so.
The fourth witness questioned said he heard everyone trying to get Nix to leave, but he kept refusing. He said he also heard Nix say he was going to get his gun out of his truck but Goodman talked him out of it.
The report states that no one else questioned had heard or mentioned anything about Nix getting a gun.
Arrests Made
The report states that after speaking with all those involved and gathering evidence, officers placed Nix, Dantzler, Lawter and Goodman under arrest. Nix was charged with two counts of assault and battery third-degree for assaulting the two victims and with disorderly conduct for being loud and boisterous and getting into a fight with Dantzler. The ABC violation charge against Nix stems from officers finding an empty bottle of Seagram’s 7 in his left pants pocket.
Dantzler was charged with disorderly conduct for starting and engaging in a fight with Nix. Lawter was charged with disorderly conduct for engaging in a fight with Nix. Goodman was charged with disorderly conduct for engaging in a fight with Dantzler and Lawter. The ABC violation charged was filed against Goodman because he was the driver of the Dodge Ram and officers later found a bottle of Svedka vodka under the driver’s seat.
A search of the truck, which the report states is registered to Nix, did not turn up any guns. The report states that the allegation that Nix was going to get a gun out of the truck was therefore determined to be unfounded.
Nix was asked if he needed medical attention, but he declined it.
All four men were then transported to jail.
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