Culberson – Police pull over an average of about 1.3 million drivers across North Carolina each year, according to data compiled by the State Bureau of Investigation. While only the most extreme encounters typically attract media spotlight, one visitor to the state has set out to make a local law enforcement official “YouTube famous” after an unsanctioned traffic stop last week.
Harold Mashburn, a probation and parole officer employed by the N.C. Department of Public Safety, has been placed on administrative duty while state officials probe an encounter that happened on the evening of Aug. 4. A series of videos uploaded to the internet show Mashburn telling a motorist 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.
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,” Department of Public Safety spokesperson Greg Thomas said, while confirming that state officials are investigating the matter.
Alabama resident William Barnwell uploaded videos to the social media website YouTube after being detained on the side of the road for about 30 minutes. He and his wife were headed home after vacationing in Cherokee County and found themselves behind Mashburn as they tried to leave the state 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 Cherokee 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 the Georgia line.
“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.”
To which Mashburn replies, “And 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 told the Scout he’s filing an official complaint because he doesn’t think he is the first person Mashburn has 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 was being traffic police,” Barnwell said. “He was slowing everybody down by pacing with the car in the right lane. I didn't realize North Carolina doesn’t have a [keep right traffic law]. If I didn't have a phone, this would have gone down much differently. And what if I would've been a woman?”
Mashburn has been employed as a law enforcement official since at least 1995, according to his LinkedIn profile. He served with Murphy Police Department for nearly four years before jumping to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, where he remains a sworn part-time deputy. Mashburn has served as a probation and parole officer with the Department of Public Safety since August 2017.
Although Mashburn is a sworn deputy, he cannot 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 cannot perform the duties of a sheriff’s deputy.
After Barnwell’s videos started circulating on social media, his restaurants began receiving negative reviews online. He believes Mashburn’s friends are trying to ruin his businesses over this ordeal.
“Here's what I don’t like about the police,” Barnwell recalled recently telling his brother, who is a cop in Alabama. “If y’all see someone doing something wrong, y’all don’t speak up because there’s a brotherhood. Ninety-nine percent of police officers are good, but 99 percent of them will also cover up something for another police officer.”