POPLARVILLE — An accident call Sunday afternoon on Old Hwy. 26 East near Sonny Davis Road here resulted in the arrest of Poplarville Fire Chief Michael White. He was arrested by a Pearl River County deputy and charged with disorderly conduct.

White said, in an interview late Monday afternoon, that he and three members of the Poplarville Fire Department responded to the call outside the city limits around 5 p.m. Sunday and were the first emergency responders on the scene. Poplarville has mutual emergency response understandings with the county and surrounding fire districts.

A vehicle had rolled over and was laying upside down in the road. He said the two injured occupants were extricated by his personnel and were receiving aid when an officer with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Dept. arrived on the scene.

The victims, after being stabilized, were transported to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg by ambulances, White said.

As ranking first responder on the scene White said it was his responsibility as incident commander to assess the scene and any possible dangers. He said the incident commander remains in command until the danger is deemed to have passed.

White said PRCSO Corporal Joe Garcia told him the people in the car could not afford to pay for a wrecker service and was allowing an unidentified person at the scene to began preparations to turn the car over with a winch.

Looking at the debris and fluid around the overturned vehicle and with a smell of gasoline in the air, White said it was not safe turn the car over because of fire danger from a stray spark. He said he personally began to position himself to block efforts to turn the car over.

White says he was in the process of trying the reach Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison by cell phone at that point and as he approached the overturned car he was stopped by PRCSO Corporal Joe Garcia and physically pushed away from the car.

White said a short while later at the scene he was handcuffed and charged with disorderly conduct.

County sheriff David Allison said in a telephone interview with the Poplarville Democrat Wednesday that he felt Corporal Garcia’s decision to let the people who asked to turn the wrecked vehicle over with a winch and tow it off the scene was justified. He said he was told the persons who owned the car had no towing insurance and could not afford to pay a wrecker.

Sheriff Allison said his deputy didn't feel there were any public safety concerns and that his deputy was in-charge of the accident scene and not the fire chief.

"We wouldn't report to a fire scene and tell them how to put out a fire," Allison told WLOX-TV.

In a copy of the Justice Court affidavit obtained by the Poplarville Democrat Tuesday morning it reads in part that White “...did willfully and unlawfully, with intent to provoke a breach of peace, refuse to comply with the order of Cpl. Joe Garcia a Law Enforcement Officer who had the authority to then and there arrest any person of a violation of the law by interfering with Cpl. Garcia’s Duties, refusing to leave the scene of an accident after being advised to do so and interfering with Cpl. Garcia’s Duty to remove a wrecked vehicle from blocking Old Hwy. 26, Poplarville, MS.”

In a Monday meeting with Sheriff Allison and Chief Deputy Shane Tucker, White said he was asked to apologize for his actions but said he has referred the entire matter to his attorney.

White said his main concern throughout the entire incident was the safety of the people at the scene.

Allison said Wednesday he couldn’t see any more danger from allowing the individuals to remove the vehicle than that of a wrecker service, particularly since there was already fire equipment on the scene, referring to the Poplarville department presence.

Poplarville Mayor Billy Spiers, when asked about the matter following Tuesday night’s city aldermen’s meeting and which there was a lengthy executive session in which White participated, said, “I think what he’s (White) done is right, to protect the public,” and that the board agreed.