KENTON COUNTY, Ky. — Eric Deters, a candidate for Kentucky governor, is facing multiple charges after chasing a juvenile down in his truck.
Per court records, Kenton County police were dispatched to Sugar Ridge Farm on Oct. 3 for reports that Deters was chasing his juvenile nephew in his truck.
The nephew said that he drove to the farm to hunt and saw his uncle, Deters, in his respective truck near the mailboxes at the end of the driveway on Green Road. The nephew said he flipped Deters off with his middle finger, per court documents.
After that, Deters chased his nephew in his truck "down the paved driveway, through the Sugar Ridge Farm, across the fields, back onto Green Road near the cemetery, and returning to the gravel parking lot of the farm," per court documents. This distance is allegedly more than a mile.
The juvenile called his father, Jeremy Deters, during the incident, and Jeremy called 911.
A witness said they saw a dark pickup truck following the juvenile's truck across the property, getting as close "as two feet" away from it. Video obtained by police also shows Deters' truck following behind his nephew's and parallel to his vehicle across the dirt roads along the fields.
The nephew said he purposefully drove by security cameras for his own safety, per court documents.
When police approached Deters at his neighboring residence, he corroborated his nephew's story.
"That little chickensh*t wouldn't get out of his truck," Deters told police.
Deters also told police his nephew is lucky he didn't get his "ass kicked." He said he knew his nephew called the police, so Deters headed home.
While speaking with police, Deters proceeded to call everyone involved "a bunch of f****t p*****s. He also asked police to communicate to his nephew that he should "go f**k himself," which police declined to do.
Deters is forced to have zero contact with Jeremy Deters now due to an Interpersonal Protective Order that expires in April 2023.
During the rest of his conversation with police, Deters said he succeeded in scaring his nephew, which was his goal.
"I bet he pissed his pants," Deters said.
Prior to speaking with police, Deters also left a voicemail and text for his nephew's mother, Julie Deters.
In the 47-second voicemail, Deters proceeds to use slurs against the LGBTQ+ community to refer to Julie's husband and son, as well as "p***y." Deters also threatens to beat his nephew up if his nephew flipped him or Deters' wife off again and revved his engine at them.
"Uncle Eric doesn't f*****g play," Deters said in the voicemail. "I don't play."
Deters also sent multiple text messages to Julie Deters after police left his home around 6:15 p.m. He told her to "enjoy his show," which is presumed to be his "Bulldog Show" that airs on Deters' social media. Another text sent a picture of his nephew with an LGBTQ+ slur.
Per court documents, Sugar Ridge Farm is solely owned by Jeremy Deters, and in April 2020, Jeremy and his father Charles Deters told Eric he was not to be on the farm ever again, which Eric claims is a lie.
After the incident, Deters is facing one count of menacing, two counts of harassing communications and one count of criminal trespassing.
In an answer to the legal complaint, Deters refuted any wrongdoing and said he has multiple other defenses.
"I have plenty of other defenses and evidence I will be producing at my jury trial of this matter," Deters said via court documents.
Deters, a lawyer, is currently running for governor. He is on the November ballot against Daniel Cameron, Kelly Craft, Mike Harmon, Savannah Maddox and Ryan Quarles in the Republican primary. Incumbent Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is the only candidate in the Democratic primary.
Deters' campaign is run on a "less government, more freedom" basis. It is unclear at this time if any of these charges will affect Deters' campaign.
