Police dash cam video shows the moment a mayor in South Carolina is pulled over as he is driving down the road on a riding lawn mower with a beer by his side.
In the footage the Horry County police officer can be heard telling John Gardner, who is the mayor of Aynor, that he is driving his tractor with an open can of beer.
The video shows Gardner swerving his lawnmower on the road before eventually being pulled over and questioned.
After a bit of back and forth, Gardner pours out his beer and then gets back on his mower and continues on his way without a citation.
The video shows Gardner swerving his lawnmower on the road before eventually being pulled over and questioned
When Horry County officer first tires to pull him over, the mayor doesn’t stop his mower. After a few minutes of driving, Gardner notices the police car behind him, pulls over, and turns off the machine
The video, which was taken just after 8.30pm on August 25, shows Gardner driving down the road.
When Horry County officer first tires to pull him over, the mayor doesn’t stop his mower.
After a few minutes of driving, Gardner notices the police car behind him, pulls over, and turns off the machine.
The officer, who is not identified, first commented that Gardner was driving the mower erratically.
Footage shows Gardner swerving on the road. He did not appear to be driving very fast.
‘You also have an open container,’ the officer can be heard saying in the video. ‘You put me in a spot.’
‘I know, I apologize for that,’ Gardner replied.
Gardner was told to pour out the beer, but he is now claiming it was not open in the first place, according to the News and Observer.
‘It was unopened to the best of my knowledge,’ he told reporters. ‘I remember opening it to pour it out.’
The officer, who is not identified, first commented that Gardner was driving the mower erratically
‘You also have an open container,’ the officer can be heard saying in the video. ‘You put me in a spot.’ ‘I know, I apologize for that,’ Gardner replied
After a bit of back and forth, Gardner pours out his beer and then gets back on his mower and continues on his way without a citation
It is unclear how officials are handling the case, but Gardner said he was not cited or charged with a crime. An officer an be heard in the video saying he would call the Town of Aynor to manage the predicament.
Aynor Police Chief David Thompson told WSPA that his officers were not at any point in time involved in the call.
The video does not show Gardner being given a breathalyzer test.
Horry County Police spokesperson Krystal Dotson said that open container ordinances are strict, but all citations are made at the officer’s discretion.
Gardner was elected in 2016 and is up for reelection this year. He told reporters he put gas in the lawnmower after tending his mother-in-law’s yard.
He called the situation a ‘misunderstanding,’ and said he’d picked up the beer at the gas station, but hadn’t started drinking it, and that he believes he was pulled over because there were no lights on the tractor.