At Random: Scott Chastain

By Karah-Leigh Hancock

QUITMAN — The term “sergeant” originated from the Latin word “serviens,” which means “one who serves.”

That’s what Sgt. Scott Chastain does on a daily basis.

Whether it is serving his community through the Quitman Police Department, helping a stray dog or making a joke just to see someone smile or to hear someone laugh, he serves others with pride.

He gets his need to serve from his family.

His grandfather, a Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indian, served in World War II.

After his grandfather retired from the service, his grandmother became a part of the United Service Organization (USO).

“They joined The Salvation Army, and they were ministers,” Chastain said. “They were in Thomasville, where they were stationed, and that’s where my mother met my dad.”

Chastain was born in Thomasville but moved to Savannah after his parents divorced when he was around 4 years old. After living in Savannah for a while, the family lived a year in Maine, where his grandfather was originally from.

“I lived in Savannah until around 1977, and from there, we moved to Maine for a year,” he said. “It’s a total culture shock up there. Words that we use down here mean ... well, they mean something else. When we say ‘cute,’ they would say ‘cunning.’ Total culture shock. (My grandfather) passed away in ’91 or ’92. I really looked up to him. He was a father figure.”

After returning to Thomasville, Chastain met his future wife, Nancy, whom he has been married to for 20 years.

“We met over in Thomasville,” he said. “We moved to Boston (Ga.), and (Nancy) worked at the Presbyterian Home. Instead of her driving from Boston to Quitman every day, we just looked for a place here.”

The Chastains have now called Quitman home for 19 years. Their oldest son, Kelton, lives in Augusta with his wife and two children, and their youngest son, Korey, lives in Boston.

Chastain drove a truck for 16 years and worked at a local convenience store where a life-changing experience happened.

“Back in ’96, I was working as a (convenience store) clerk,” he said. “I got robbed and stabbed 16 times. That was a very traumatic year for me because it started off with my mother dying, then the robbery. Then my grandmother died, all in the same year. I was really glad to see ’97 come along.”

The robbery and Chastain’s “itchiness to try something new” led him to take the GED test.

“It’s never too late,” he said. “You’re never too old to get your education.”

After obtaining his GED, Chastain began talking with a police captain in Quitman about becoming a police officer.

“I had been talking with Capt. Eddie Stroud,” he said. “He was a big part in me becoming a police officer. I really hold him in high regards. I still call him as the rank that I knew him as.”

Chastain decided to join the police academy but said that it was nothing like what the movies make it out to be.

“It was totally different,” he said. “I was thinking more of maybe a military, boot camp type thing. I really enjoyed it.”

Chastain said that he really enjoyed the hands-on training, such as ground fighting or when he traveled to Forsyth for the Emergency Vehicle Operation Course training.

“You get to spin,” he said. “There’s this cone course you have to take, and you have to do it within a certain amount of time.”

Chastain put his training to good use shortly after joining the Quitman Police Department.

“There was this child in distress, and I went over there and performed mouth to mouth,” he said. “The child started breathing again and everybody was (saying) that I was a hero. I don’t consider myself a hero. It’s just something had to be done, and I just happened to be the person there. I will help anybody if they ask.”

With his work on the police force, Chastain has helped those even when they didn’t ask for help.

“A couple of years ago, I arrested a guy,” he said. “I saw him a couple of days later. He had bonded out. He shook my hand and thanked me. He said he needed that as a wake-up call. If I can help one person to change their life and turn their life around, then my whole career is done.”

He has also helped and lent more than just a hand, but a home, to one “unlucky” furry friend named, ironically enough, Lucky.

“To show you how I am, Lucky was hit by a car over by Town and Country,” said Chastain, referring to a store in Quitman. “I brought him home and got him seen by a vet.”

Now, Lucky is healthy and sits on Chastain’s front porch, watching stray cats come and go across the yard.

Besides Lucky, the Chastains have five other dogs — two Chihuahuas, two Poodles and a mixed Pit bull/Boxer.

In his free time, Chastain enjoys tinkering with his new truck and hunting. He is planning a trip to Alabama to go deer hunting with friends in a few weeks.

He is also into sports, especially football.

“I’ve been (an Atlanta) Falcons fan for a long time,” he said. “I’m talking ever since Steve Bartkowski, Billy Johnson. I’m talking way back. I’m a Florida State fan. I’ve been a Seminoles fan since about ’78. Whenever I’m a fan of something or someone, I’m a fan for life. Good times and bad.”

Chastain was disappointed to see Bobby Bowden retire from coaching.

“I was sad. In my opinion, (they) should have given him that other year. He had a good run.”

He also runs a small lock-out service on his days away from the force.

But most of all, Sgt. Scott Chastain loves to see people laugh.

Whether it’s joking with the cashiers at a local convenience store or joking with a nosey reporter that he’s a cop who hates donuts but loves éclairs, he tries his best to make people laugh.

“I bring joy to everywhere I go,” he said. “I try to find humor in everything. There’s a time to be funny and a time to be serious. There’s something about somebody laughing. Like when you talk about taking a frown and turning it upside down, that’s something. Just to see people laugh does wonders.”