A former official with the South Carolina Republican Party said an improper dose of cough medicine was to blame for an incident in which he refused to let his wife out of their car, the Charleston City Paper reported Saturday.
Todd Kincannon, an attorney who briefly served as the executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party in 2010, allegedly refused to let his wifeout of their car after the couple got into an argument at a work function Thursday night, according to a police report obtained by the newspaper.
A Lexington County Sheriff's deputy responded to a "possible domestic incident" at about 10:21 p.m. at Kincannon's Columbia, S.C. home, according to the report. The report stated Kincannon's wife, Ashely Suzanne Griffith, told the deputy there had been an altercation in a Chick-fil-A parking lot on the drive home.
Griffith told the deputy that she asked to get out of their car after her husband began screaming at her, according to the police report. The report stated that Griffith said she hit her husband in the arm several times because he grabbed her to prevent her from exiting the car. She also told the deputy that Kincannon had threatened to kill himself if she left the vehicle.
Later Kincannon told a Charleston newspaper that he was all hopped up on cough syrup: Here’s what happened last night:
I had a severe upper respiratory infection, and I’m the kind of guy who never goes to the doctor. I finally went and was prescribed something called Benzonatate for my cough. I’d never taken it before, and took it for the first time last night. Basically, I went completely crazy after taking it. I don’t even remember all of it. My wife called 911 because she was worried about me and my behavior was way out of character and erratic, and she was afraid for her safety and mine. The cops came and they called EMS, and EMS took me to Lexington Medical Center. My blood pressure on scene was something like 190 over 130 and I was tachycardic. The ER doctor at LMC saw me and I was diagnosed ... with an allergic reaction to Benzonatate. Apparently a very small percentage of people go absolutely nuts when they take the stuff, and I’m apparently in that very small percentage. I had calmed down by the time I got to LMC and they let me go after a brief evaluation. I’m totally fine now and not taking any more Benzonatate.
They need to add a warning label to Benzonatate: “Warning: May cause people to go completely nuts.”
Sounds legit. I mean who doesn't start manhandling women after they take prescription cough suppressants?
A drugged out Republican getting all abusive with his wife in a Charleston Chick-fil-A.
Sounds like a typical Saturday in South Carolina to me.
