Nags Head school resource officer arrests, charges parent with violating protective order

Parent was previously arrested, charged with driving impaired with child in vehicle on Christmas Day

A Nags Head Police Department vehicle (Photo courtesy Town of Nags Head)

By Corinne Saunders

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NAGS HEAD — The school resource officer at Nags Head Elementary School on Tuesday arrested a parent attempting to pick up his child from school, charging him with a violation of a domestic violence protective order.

“Christopher Ryan Smith, 43, of Kill Devil Hills, has been charged with a violation of a domestic violence protective order and served with a warrant for a previous violation of the same order,” according to a Tuesday evening press release from the Town of Nags Head announcing the arrest.

Smith now faces six criminal cases in Dare County with a total of nine misdemeanor charges since Christmas Day—four of which are for violating domestic violence protective orders—online court records show.

Christopher Ryan Smith (photo courtesy Dare County Sheriff’s Office)

Bond for Smith was not authorized as of Tuesday evening. His next court hearing is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 23.

An officer with the Nags Head Police Department arrested Smith on Dec. 25 on charges of misdemeanor child abuse and driving while impaired on U.S. Highway 158 in Nags Head, court records show.

The child abuse charge was because Smith did “create and allow a substantial risk of physical injury upon that child by other than accidental means by driving impaired on the highways of North Carolina in Nags Head,” according to the charging text.

Smith was issued a $5,000 secured bond for those charges, which he posted on Dec. 27, according to online court records.

Smith’s other Christmas Day charges included carrying a concealed gun, possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

Smith was then arrested on Dec. 27 on two charges of violating a domestic violence protective order by twice calling the woman with whom a Dec. 24 order said he should have no contact, according to online court records.

“After a 48-hour domestic violence hold,” he was issued a $10,000 secured bond, which he posted on Dec. 29, according to court records.

On Jan. 3, another warrant was issued for Smith, charging that he violated a domestic violence protective order against the same woman by calling her and stating, “Do you know who this is? It’s your worst nightmare”—after which the woman “felt fearful.”

D. Gnafakis, a Nags Head Police Department employee who is assigned to Nags Head Elementary School as a school resource officer during the school year, arrested Smith on Tuesday afternoon, according to the town’s press release.

Gnafakis was on duty in the school’s parking lot after dismissal around 2:30 p.m. and was alerted by school staff that “a father with with an active domestic violence protective order, protecting the mother and child, might attempt to retrieve his child from school property,” the release said.

By picking up the child from school, Smith violated a Jan. 2 protective order stating that Smith “is ordered to stay away from the minor child(ren)” and “is not to remove the child(ren) from the care of the plaintiff,” according to the charging text.

“Together with school staff and other Nags Head police personnel, the father and child were quickly located while attempting to leave the parking lot,” the release said. “The father was apprehended without incident, and the child was safely reunited with the mother, with no injuries reported.”

The release noted that Nags Head does not normally announce every arrest but issued this release “to assure the community that there was never a general threat to students, school staff or others on the property.”

The release continued: “School resource officers play a vital role in keeping schools safe. In addition to building positive relationships with students and providing education on important safety topics, they respond quickly to emergencies, prevent crime and support safety planning. Officer Gnafakis exemplified these duties today by taking swift action to protect the child.”

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This article was updated at 5:27 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7, to emphasize in the headline and lede that the officer charged the parent with a violation.

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