I-TEAM: Are Burke County sheriff and his supporters above the law?
Default Mono Sans Mono Serif Sans Serif Comic Fancy Small CapsDefault X-Small Small Medium Large X-Large XX-LargeDefault Outline Dark Outline Light Outline Dark Bold Outline Light Bold Shadow Dark Shadow Light Shadow Dark Bold Shadow Light BoldDefault Black Silver Gray White Maroon Red Purple Fuchsia Green Lime Olive Yellow Navy Blue Teal Aqua OrangeDefault 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%Default Black Silver Gray White Maroon Red Purple Fuchsia Green Lime Olive Yellow Navy Blue Teal Aqua OrangeDefault 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%The I-TEAM is continuing its investigation into the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.
By William Rioux and Hector Munoz
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The I-TEAM is continuing its investigation into the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.
Prominent people in Burke County are continuously using the sheriff’s name to get out of situations that would normally put you in handcuffs.
Whether it’s DUIs or assault and battery. Now, in this case, family violence.
The sheriff has placed himself between written law and his allies.
On a late Sunday night — August 18th — the Waynesboro Police Department (WPD) received a domestic disturbance call.
The caller is Mackenzie McCafferty, telling 911 that she and her dad just had a heated argument.
Mackenzie McCafferty: “He just came to my house, busted my freaking windshield in my car.”
Dispatch: “What’s your dad’s name?”
Mackenzie: “Andy McCafferty.”
BURKE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE INVESTIGATION:
- ATF raids business of man linked to Burke County sheriff
- Burke County sheriff’s ongoing problems
- More on a case that vanished under Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams’ watch
- 2nd Burke County DUI case never makes it to court
- Burke County audit finds big problems with sheriff’s spending
- Burke County DUI case disappears after sheriff steps in
- Deeper look at probe of Burke County sheriff
Police find Andy McCafferty parked on the side of the road, right up the street from where his daughter called 911.
WPD Officer Johnson: “Can we have the suspect’s name Please? 10-04, For the male suspect is an Andy McCafferty.”
McCafferty is a Waynesboro business owner and is connected to Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams.
In May 2023, the I-TEAM found county documents that showed the sheriff’s office rented a building that was owned by McCafferty.
McCafferty is seen in Facebook photos at a fundraiser for Sheriff Alfonzo Williams’ campaign this past May. The sheriff also made a Facebook post when McCafferty opened the Waynesboro Huddle House.
Autoplay1 of 3
Police officers also recognize him on scene.
Johnson: “Hey, you own the Huddle House over here.”
In the body cam video, McCafferty’s daughter says her father shattered her car’s windshield — something he doesn’t deny.
McCafferty: “The next thing I know I blacked out; the baby had a little toy there and I threw it through the windshield of the car. If you want to take me to jail, take me to jail.”
While one WPD officer talks with McCafferty, another officer goes to his daughter’s house to see the damage.
Body cam shows the white vehicle with half the windshield shattered.
Mackenzie McCafferty asks for a county deputy even though this happened in city limits.
Mackenzie: “Can I have a county cop come out here too?”
Minutes later, Burke County Deputy Tanner Baughman shows up at the house.
WPD Officer Wood: “She said she wanted y’all to work the case.”
Baughman: “Really?” Wood: “Yeah.”
Internet service goes out because someone stole the cable
When the internet went out near Grovetown a few days ago, it was a high-tech problem caused by a low-tech crime.
Baughman: “So that’s why we have two units up here.”
Baughman: “I’m already familiar though because he owns the Huddle House.”
Wood: “Yeah, that’s why they don’t like us working.”
Baughman: “This whole politics s— sucks.”
After talking with Mackenzie, Baughman explains this situation falls under family violence in the state of Georgia.
Baughman: “Unfortunately, when it comes to family violence situations like that, the state takes over. So, at that point, it is pretty much in our hands, and we have to make a decision.”
Mackenzie: “He has court tomorrow.”
Baughman: “What’s he got to court for?”
Mackenzie: “Beating up the guy at the gas pump. Y’all remember that?”
Baughman: “I heard about it, but I don’t know much about it.”
Mackenzie: “That’s what his court tomorrow is for. For beating a man up at a gas pump.”
McCafferty did have court the next morning for a felony aggravated assault and battery case from 2023.
ANOTHER I-TEAM INVESTIGATION:
- ‘Very frustrated’: Homeowners feel ignored by insurance companies
- Hurricane Helene damages historic cemeteries in Augusta
- The long-term impacts of hurricanes on marginalized communities
- Federal Trade Commission bans false company reviews
- Helene has displaced students at nearly every Richmond County school
He was out on bond for that case. The sheriff let him out on his own recognizance.
John Sturkie: “Andy Mac’s his name. He came over here, assaulted me, pushed me, got me on the ground, and hit me right here by the truck. He grabbed me by the throat.”
That same day officers went to arrest McCafferty at his shop, but he was already out of town. He told WPD investigators one of his first calls was to Sheriff Alfonzo Williams.
McCafferty: “I’ve already talked to Alfonzo. I’m out of town.”
WPD Investigator: “But it’s not Alfonzo. It’s not Alfonzo, this is the city.”
McCafferty: “I called Alfonzo because that’s the only contact I have because I knew the city was doing it.”
McCafferty would later plead guilty to just battery charges in that 2023 case, which he is currently on probation for.
Now, back to the scene with McCafferty’s daughter, another Burke County deputy arrives.
Baughman: “The guy named Andy; he owns the Huddle House down there. Apparently, he’s really good with everybody in the county and I guess there are a lot of situations where he just thinks because he’s real good with everybody in the county he can just kind of do whatever he wants. So that’s the reason he disregarded the city and brought us out here because he’s hoping for a different outcome.”
Extra debris cleanup time makes Augusta leaders happy
Helene victims in the CSRA are getting 30 more days to clean up debris and still get reimbursed 100% for the costs, FEMA announced.
Both deputies talk with his daughter.
Sergeant Hickson: “Our job is to determine if a crime has been committed, and one has. It’s family violence and we must act on that.”
Hickson then gets on the phone with Lieutenant Aaron Hannsz about the situation.
Hickson: “It’s going to be a felony criminal damage to property.”
About 15 minutes later, Hannsz shows up at the house and gets a phone call.
Hannsz: “We’ll get it taken care of. We’ll talk in a minute.”
He looks at the damage and explains the situation to McCafferty’s daughter, explaining options concerning a family violence charge.
Hannsz: “Would you be satisfied for a citation for what we call disorderly conduct on him, and he would have to go in front of a judge and everything? Would you be satisfied with that?”
Right then, Hannsz gets a phone call from the sheriff at 9:36 p.m.
But prior to that phone call to Hannaz, the sheriff received a call from a number nine minutes earlier at 9:27 p.m.
That number is the same number Andy McCafferty used on his bond documents from his 2023 case.
MORE FROM THE I-TEAM:
- Group involved in Burke County eavesdropping dispute speaks out
- 911 calls give new details around the arrest of Burke County man
- The long-term impacts of hurricanes on marginalized communities
- Unrest between Burke County property owners has gone on for years
- Facebook video lands Burke County man in jail for ‘eavesdropping’
Hannsz: “So, as far as the report just do disorderly conduct instead of family violence? Because if we do a family violence it has to be a regular charge.”
But can they do what Hannsz just said? Negotiate the charge?
All deputies on the scene agreed this was family violence. State law in Georgia on family violence includes criminal damage to property or criminal trespass.
State guidelines on family violence say officers shouldn’t tell victims what to do in these situations. If victims don’t want to press charges, the case goes to the DA to make a decision.
If an officer thinks a crime happened, the preferred response is arrest.
None of those guidelines were followed, and Hannsz gets the daughter to agree only to a citation. Everything changed after the sheriff’s phone call.
Hannsz: “That was car 1. Uh, disorderly conduct. Go down there and give him a citation for disorderly conduct. 28, we have to look it up. I got it. County ordinance. I guess violent and tumultuous manner? Whatever fits. I think y’all can get that figured out. Are you ok with that?”
Mackenzie: “I thought you said this was your decision?”
Baughman: “It was.”
Hannsz: “Until other people got involved.”
How Fairfax shooting allegedly sparked child-murder scheme
We’re learning about an October shooting that allegedly motivated the father of the victim to order a hit on the accused shooter, a juvenile.
Baughman pulls the supervisors aside.
Baughman: “At the end of the day if this was any other resident in Burke County, they’d be going to jail. I don’t agree with it at all. So, in the most respectful way possible if this is the route we’re going to go, I don’t want to be a part of it. I don’t. I don’t want to do this report. I don’t want to be a part of this.”
Hannsz: “That’s the course that the sheriff has advised us to do.”
Hannsz admits the sheriff is controlling the situation.
Baughman: “I just know how it is and if this was a different Burke County resident it would not end this way.”
Hannsz: “That’s the route we’re going to go, so.”
McCafferty was only given a slap on the wrist, a court date, and was able to go home that night. The deputy who spoke up about McCafferty getting special treatment, Deputy Baughman, was fired.
Baughman originally put in his resignation on Sept. 4, 2024. But two days later, on Sept. 6, 2024, Baughman was terminated instead.
The I-TEAM obtained a personnel order letter from the sheriff’s office saying, “Tanner Baughman is no longer employed with the Burke County Sheriff’s Office due to his termination. This new order supersedes and amends the previous one regarding his resignation.” The letter adds, “His actions were detrimental to the trust and integrity of the Sheriff’s Office.”
SEE BAUGHMAN’S RESIGNATION LETTER, SHERIFF’S TERMINATION LETTER:
In Baughman’s statement to the county he says, “Sheriff Williams then accused me of reaching out to News Channel 12, being that they requested the body camera footage from the agency. He stated to me that he was ‘rescinding my resignation, and going to terminate me.’”
Baughman never contacted the I-TEAM before its investigation began.
Baughman filed a complaint with the county. He felt only a citation was given because the sheriff and the suspect are friends, and he publicly and financially supports the sheriff.
Baughman says the sheriff stated, “Andy is a big-time name in Waynesboro and has a successful business. And it would be a disservice to take him to jail due to jail only being made for people who are a threat to the public.”
SEE STATEMENT FROM BAUGHMAN:
Hannsz: “You and I both know Andy and I think he has a temper and that’s part of the problem.”
The I-TEAM did reach out to Baughman about this incident after becoming aware of what happened. He did not want to comment on the matter.
The county says they’ve been notified about Baughman’s intent to sue the county for wrongful termination.
According to POST records, Baughman just recently finished family violence training in May of this year.
CHARGES DISMISSED:
On Tuesday, the I-TEAM reached out to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office for a comment.
That same day, the sheriff’s office says the victim requested that the charges be withdrawn.
According to the sheriff’s office, McCafferty’s charges of property damage of destruction and trespass were dismissed on Wednesday.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
