McComb’s police chief has not resigned, two city officials said Thursday.
Rumors of a resignation from Garland Ward circulated after the chief was recently involved in a one-vehicle accident in his police vehicle on Interstate 55 between McComb and Summit.
Mayor Quordiniah Lockley and City Administrator David Myers said Ward’s vehicle was still drivable after the accident and he returned it to the station, where a Pike County sheriff’s deputy filled out an accident report.
“He did have an accident. I haven’t seen the report,” Myers said Thursday. “There has been some talk about him resigning. That’s not correct at this point. He’s working.”
Lockley said police were in pursuit of a vehicle when Ward’s vehicle struck a guardrail.
“It was reported and he followed all of the procedures that the city has in place as it relates to an accident,” Lockley said.
Lockley said he fielded questions asking if Ward was forced to resign over the accident, and the mayor called that not only incorrect but ludicrous, considering that vehicle accidents are an occupational hazard for police and not uncommon.
“For the chief to have an accident and everybody wants to talk about him, well, all of these other accidents that happen with our police officers, nobody wants to talk about them,” the mayor said. “As of now he has not resigned.”
City officials said they also wouldn’t characterize Ward’s returning the police vehicle to the station as leaving the scene of an accident, considering no other vehicles were involved.
“You have the authority, yourself as a driver, you run off in a ditch and your vehicle is still drivable … to me it’s not leaving the scene,” Myers said.
