It started as a routine traffic stop. Dash cam video recorded Powell giving a driver a ticket. When he got back into his patrol car, Powell got a phone call from a friend.
Four minutes into the conversation, Powell made inappropriate comments about a gay acquaintance.
"His ex-boyfriend beat the shit out of him behind Argos. And all this kind of shit. I said, well silly f****t, d***s are for chicks," said Powell.
A few minutes later, the conversation turned to what he'd like to do to a woman.
"Not only am I going to pull her over. I'm going to sexually assault her,” said Powell.
Powell went on to say he was going to use his gun in that sexual assault.
About 9 minutes into the conversation, he then told his friend about another traffic stop he made.
"I got this girl the other day. She had a damn n****r in the back seat. The thing wasn't old enough to crawl and she had it thrown in the back.
I was just going to give her a verbal warning. Strap that monkey into the back seat. Put that monkey in the booster seat, strap it up and be done with it," said Powell.
Powell ended the phone call with another negative comment about the gay guy mentioned earlier.
"I didn't recognize him. But I remembered the grin he had with those big a** n****r lips.
It was a 15 minute conversation that cost Deputy Powell his job.
Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength says his agency will not tolerate or accept this kind of language by any deputy sheriff or employee of the sheriff's office.
Although Powell did resign, the sheriff's office also tells they will turn in their findings to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.) for review.
That agency will then decide whether or not Powell will be allowed to work in law enforcement again.
In 2003, Powell was suspended for 1 day after making inappropriate comments to an inmate.
The year before, he was suspended for 2 days after doing a business transaction with an inmate.
