By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Levy County Commissioner Mike Joyner last week condemned a man who blasted an outdoor funeral service using loud mufflers on his truck.
Joyner, known for his plain country style of speaking, said if he wasn’t so crippled by illness he would have beaten the man for disrespecting the funeral.
Speaking during the Dec. 22 county commission meeting, Joyner apologized in advance for the statement he was about to make, in case it offended anyone, but said the behavior of the man blasting loud mufflers as he passed a funeral service should be dealt with by law enforcement and the courts.
The funeral of Elizabeth Yearty took place at the Rafter Cross Cowboy Church outside Williston. The service was being preached by her father and her brother. Her grandfather offered a prayer at the end of the service. The church holds non-traditional outdoor services in a building with a roof but no walls.
“Disgusting, Disrespectful”
“During that funeral, the pecker head that went down that road with them loud ass mufflers…as soon as they saw a crowd of people they stomped down and drowned out a man who was preaching his daughter’s funeral,” Joyner said. “It is the most disgusting, disrespectful thing I have ever seen. Crippled up me, if I could have caught him I would have beat the cornbread shit out of him and you’d have had me in jail,” Joyner said looking at Sheriff Bobby McCallum.
Joyner said he talked to McCallum about the incident. Five minutes later, the sheriff issued a memo to his deputy sheriff’s to step up enforcement of loud mufflers.
“I don’t know what else we can do except support our law enforcement and ask our judge to fine him, but if you have in a situation where you have a loved one or you’re attending something that’s very special and you have somebody that has no respect anywhere in their body, they can’t even spell respect…I think we need to pass the word and encourage the sheriff, police departments and anyone else to put a stop to it,” Joyner said. “I don’t want to hinder these people. I don’t care about the trucks they’re driving, but use some common sense and courtesy and that’s all I’m asking.”
Commissioner John Meeks said he knows the man who blasted the funeral with his loud mufflers and would inform McCallum after the meeting.
Joyner responded, “You all understand what I’m trying to say. It was very, very disrespectful.”
Meeks added, “It was like they looked over and saw a crowd and said now is a chance to impress a bunch of people.”
McCallum: Loud Mufflers Everywhere
In an interview Monday, McCallum said no deputies were present for the funeral service but he heard about what happened from people who attended. He said state statutes govern those types of violations and probably not the county noise ordinance. He added that a law enforcement officer must be present to witness what happens or they can’t make a case, and they can’t act on a complaint two days later.
“As soon as I was aware of that problem I had my patrol lieutenant put out a notice to all his people to step up patrol in that area and step up enforcement on the loud mufflers and all that,” McCallum said.
He said the problem of loud mufflers is everywhere including cities.
“Constantly all day by my house, I’m not home, but my wife is complaining when I get home,” McCallum said. “I’m not dressed appropriately and I can’t catch them. It’s one of those problems; you have to witness it to take any action. It’s a problem everywhere not just Levy County.”
He added, “I can understand why people were upset. I was upset too. Sometimes it’s hard to control stupidity. It’s just not ignorance of the law because they’ve always done it.”
McCallum said drivers with loud mufflers often increase their speed to maximize the muffler noise. He said they can be given a ticket for the speeding as well as violating noise laws if they are caught.
“We’re aware of it and we keep trying. We do write a lot of citations for our size county,” McCallum said.
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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting December 22, 2020; Posted December 28, 2020
