Mashburn
Culberson – A year after his vacation to Cherokee County morphed into a YouTube curiosity, William Barnwell is glad to know the state probation officer who pulled him over has retired.
Barnwell, a resident of Alabama, uploaded videos to the social media website in August 2021 after being detained by Harold Mashburn on the side of the road for about 30 minutes following a highway altercation.
Mashburn, who was employed as a probation and parole officer by the N.C. Department of Public Safety at the time, was placed on administrative duty while state officials probed the encounter. Barnwell’s videos show Mashburn telling him that he is not free to leave while parked on the side of N.C. 60, often called Spur 60, just before the Georgia state line.
Mashburn retired in December 2021, according to Greg Thomas with the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s Community Corrections division.
“I’m glad to know he’s retired,” Barnwell said. “I didn’t really want him punished to the extent of losing his job. I just wanted someone to tell him he couldn’t do that, and for someone to tell me he shouldn’t be doing that.
“His boss did tell me he has been in the job himself for 23 years and has never pulled anyone over himself.”
As sworn law enforcement officials, probation and parole officers in North Carolina have authority to intervene during circumstances of imminent danger. However, “that does not include stopping other vehicles,” Thomas told the Cherokee Scout last year.
Barnwell’s video clips have been shared by other YouTube channels, including “Audit the Audit,” which has more than 1.7 million subscribers and says it is designed to “sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions.” Their video featuring Barnwell’s encounter with Mashburn has more than 2.6 million views on that channel alone.
According to Barnwell, the incident occurred as he and his wife were heading home from their vacation on Aug. 4, 2021, and found themselves behind Mashburn around 5 p.m.
Barnwell said he traveled behind Mashburn a short distance while on U.S. 64 West and remained behind him as they turned onto N.C. 60. He said Mashburn occupied the left lane, traveling slower than the speed limit, and actually paced a car that was pulling a lawnmower in the right lane of traffic.
“He would not move over,” Barnwell told the Scout. “When the car turned, it freed up the right lane, so I drove around him. I almost blew the horn and shot him a bird; I’m not gonna lie. But I didn’t.
“All I did was look at him like the Kermit the Frog meme, hold out my hands and say, ‘You need to move over into the right lane.’ He immediately reaches down, holds up his badge and starts screaming.”
Barnwell said he couldn’t exactly hear Mashburn’s outburst because his vehicle’s windows were up, but he could see his lips mouthing the words “pull over.” Barnwell said he initially continued driving, but Mashburn kept “trying to force me onto the right side of the road.”
Meanwhile, Barnwell’s wife was in the passenger seat telling him to pull over, so he stopped the vehicle a few hundred yards away from Georgia.
“I didn’t think this guy was a police officer, but I got worried because we were almost in Georgia,” Barnwell said, adding that he didn’t want to be perceived as if he was fleeing from law enforcement across state lines.
Mashburn continued driving past Barnwell after he pulled over, but eventually stopped a short distance away. The videos posted online show Mashburn walking back toward Barnwell’s vehicle after parking on the side of the road.
As Mashburn approaches the car, dressed in his probation officer uniform, equipped with a gun and badge, Barnwell asks whether he is a police officer.
“Do you mind turning off the car?” Mashburn asks, before answering the question. “Yes, sir, I am a law enforcement officer.”
After Barnwell points out that Mashburn is a probation officer, the pair start arguing over the speed each other was driving prior to the stop.
“You were going 48 (mph) in the left lane for 5 miles,” Barnwell tells him as Mashburn disputes it. “I got it on video.”
Barnwell then turns the conversation back to whether Mashburn is a police officer, while Mashburn contacts dispatch for assistance from the N.C. Highway Patrol. When Barnwell argues that Mashburn doesn’t have a radar gun to accurately judge his speed, Mashburn replies, “I’m pulling you over for aggressive driving, sir.”
Barnwell then argues that the reason for the traffic stop has changed, prompting Mashburn to say, “When you came up behind me, you were speeding.”
“And you can tell someone is speeding without radar?” Barnwell asks.
“Yes, sir, I can because I have to do that …” Mashburn replies before Barnwell cuts him off.
Mashburn then says, “I can’t argue with you. Just sit tight,” before walking back to his vehicle.
Mashburn later returns to Barnwell’s car and records a video of his own. At one point during the encounter, Mashburn asks Barnwell what probation officers are considered to be in the State of Alabama.
“We’re not in Alabama,” Barnwell responds, before asking Mashburn how often he pulls over motorists.
Over the course of several minutes, the pair continue to argue over the legitimacy of the stop, with Mashburn refusing to provide his identity because Barnwell won’t hand over his driver’s license and registration. At one point in the video, a different car streaks past the pair, prompting Barnwell to question Mashburn’s skill in estimating speed without a radar gun.
“I got one person at a time that I can deal with, sir,” Mashburn replies.
Mashburn eventually tells Barnwell that this ordeal probably would have been over already if he had relaxed and spoken with him about the matter from the start. He accuses Barnwell of endangering other people’s lives, and says he just wanted to speak with him about it.
“I wasn’t endangering nobody’s life,” Barnwell says. “We’re in more danger with you having me pulled over right here than we were going up and down this highway.”
Mashburn replies, “That’s quite possibly the truth.”
Eventually, a state trooper arrives. He tells Barnwell he’s not going to issue any tickets because it’s not his traffic stop, and he doesn’t “fully understand what we’re doing here.”
Barnwell filed an official complaint because he didn’t think he was the first person Mashburn had pulled over while working as a probation officer. He questioned whether Mashburn’s workload is light enough that he has free time to “be out here hunting up stuff ” to do. He said he hoped an investigation took place to see “how many people he’s pulled over throughout the years” and why Mashburn didn’t file a report about the altercation with him.
“After the incident I received a call from an investigator with the state,” Barnwell said. “He questioned me for about an hour on the incident and a few days later he questioned my wife, who was also in the car.
“I followed up a few weeks later, and they said they couldn’t discuss the matter regarding personnel. To be honest, I should have pushed an outcome harder and just let it go.”
Mashburn had been employed as a law enforcement official since at least 1995, according to his LinkedIn profile in 2021. He had served as a probation and parole officer with the Department of Public Safety since August 2017. He served with the Murphy Police Department for nearly four years before jumping to the Cherokee County Sheriff ’s Office.
Despite being a sworn deputy, he could not initiate traffic stops while on duty as a probation officer. In North Carolina, law enforcement officers can only wear one color at a time, meaning that while on the clock as a probation officer, Mashburn could not perform the duties of a sheriff’s deputy.
Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer said he was not certain whether his agency still holds Mashburn’s certification, but added that he had not worked there in several years.
“I don’t know of him working for us since he went to probation,” Palmer said.
After Barnwell’s videos started circulating on social media, the small business owner’s restaurants began receiving negative reviews online. He believed Mashburn’s friends were trying to ruin his businesses over the ordeal.
While comments beneath the internet videos are filled with remarks supportive of Barnwell in his altercation with Mashburn, he said there are also those who have framed him in an unfair and negative light.
“I don’t like the way it’s portrayed online as if I’m some kind of police hater or sovereign citizen,” Barnwell said. “Those people are nuts. I’m just a small business owner who was on vacation.”