HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — The head of the Houston County Sheriff's Office SWAT team has been suspended for two days after an argument at an auto dealership.
An internal affair report says it was a dispute over a garage door opener.
The Houston County Sheriff's Office says Lt. James Spivey's garage door opener was inside a car that changed hands due to a divorce and Spivey wanted it back.
The report says he believed an employee at Five Star Ford had it.
First, it says he sent a Centerville officer to the man's house to retrieve it.
When that didn't work, the report says Spivey went to Five Star himself in uniform on Nov. 19.
The internal affairs report says the Five Star worker didn't have the opener and he didn't appreciate Spivey sending an officer to his house to get it or approaching him at work.
They argued and raised their voices.
The report says the man insulted Spivey leading both men to point fingers and slap each other's hands. That’s when the report says Spivey pushed him.
Spivey said get your finger out of my face. The man then told Spivey he needed to get out of my shop.
The internal affairs report says a Five Star supervisor stepped in and told the men to stop.
Witnesses told investigators that Spivey walked away while saying there’s “gonna be repercussions from this."
A Five Star manager later told Spivey to stay away unless he was on official business.
The Houston County report says the investigator doesn't believe Spivey went to Five Star to start a confrontation with the man but that both men lost control.
The investigator wrote that violates department policy, which says "an officer must at all times conduct himself in a manner which does not bring discredit to himself, the department or the county.”
The Houston County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on Spivey's suspension.