Civil Air Patrol will still take Horry Co. calls

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — The Myrtle Beach unit of the Civil Air Patrol will still take assistance calls from Horry County, despite a vow its commander made after being arrested in the county for taking a laser pointer from a 12-year-old.

The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports (http://bit.ly/tmRVw4 ) that Commander Stephen Teachout has been suspended from the unit pending an investigation into the arrest.

Emerson Smith, spokesman for the Civil Air Patrol office in Columbia, says the patrol is charged by Congress with providing support, a duty that can’t be overruled by local commanders.

Teachout was charged last month with third-degree assault and petty larceny after taking a laser pointer from a child who was shining it in the faces of passing motorists. Teachout says he did nothing wrong.

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Information from: The Sun News, http://www.thesunnews.com/