CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — When Sgt. Larry Tucker typed a search warrant affidavit to raid a suspected drug dealer’s home on Legrand Street in Cheraw on Oct. 11, he knew the information he typed into the warrant affidavit hadn’t happened yet.
“In the last 72 hours a CI (Confidential Informant) made a Controlled Drug Purchase of Methamphetamine from the residence…,” sources told us the warrant stated.
Our sources told Queen City News Chief Investigative Reporter Jody Barr that no one in the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office’s drug unit had purchased anything from the suspected drug dealer at the time.
Sgt. Tucker would later confirm that fact. Tucker is a member of the sheriff’s drug unit and works under Sgt. Mike Irvin’s supervision.
Tucker said his boss told him to type up the affidavit so that when the drug purchase actually happened, they could go to the judge to get a search warrant.
At some point, Tucker said Irvan wanted a judge’s signature on the search warrant. Tucker confirmed to QCN that Irvin told him to take the warrant affidavit to a Chesterfield County Magistrate with Mike Irvan’s signature at the bottom and get the judge to sign it.
And just like that, a search warrant was issued based on a sworn statement from Sgt. Mike Irvin that a controlled drug buy happened at that home on Legrand Street.
That one sentence brought state investigators back to Chesterfield County to open another criminal investigation into the sheriff’s office.
