Richmond County deputy fired after assault arrest

A Richmond County sheriff's deputy has been fired following his arrest in a domestic violence incident in Columbia County. 

Jason McCall, 31, was fired by the sheriff's office April 10. He was arrested at his Columbia County home April 2 and charged with aggravated assault, battery and cruelty to children after he was accused of attacking the mother of his youngest child in front of her 9-year-old daughter, The Augusta Chronicle reported.

McCall became angry at his wife for texting friends, according to an incident report. His wife told Columbia County deputies that he returned home highly intoxicated and a "physical altercation ensued."

McCall's wife was granted a temporary protection order. McCall will have an opportunity to rebut the allegations and contest the protective order at a hearing Friday, but he cannot return to the couple's Martinez home or see his son, The Chronicle previously reported.

According to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, deputies have responded to five domestic violence calls at McCall's home since 2017. No domestic violence issues are mentioned in McCall's Richmond County Sheriff's Office personnel file.

He was hired as a jailer in May 2013 and became a deputy after basic training in October 2014. He received written commendations from the sheriff in February 2015 for helping capture a burglary suspect, in December 2015 for helping capture another burglary suspect and one in January 2016 for saving a woman trying to kill herself.

MCall remains at the Columbia County Detention Center under a $27,300 cash bond. He was the first Richmond County deputy arrested in 2019 and the first since a new alcohol policy went into effect at the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office did not comment on why McCall was fired.