Cherokee County Assistant Coroner Tommy Pinyan went to the hospital to be checked for injuries after a physical incident with an officer with the Holly Springs Police Department responding to a call about a death Saturday afternoon.

Holly Springs Police Chief Ken Ball did not name the officer involved. He said the officer is on paid leave while an internal investigation continues.

“I think we’ve gotten to the bottom of most of it. It was a misunderstanding, and a problem in training on our part,” Ball said.

County Coroner Earl Darby confirmed that Pinyan went to the hospital to be checked out for injuries, but he declined to comment further on the matter while it is still being investigated.

Officer Shane Ladner and Sgt. Brian Cain from the Holly Springs Police Department were called to a death on Cedarwood Drive around 2:45 p.m., according to an incident report provided by the department.

Two detectives were later called to the scene, Ball said.

Ball said the death the officers were originally called to is not being treated as suspicious.

Under state law, any time there is a death at a residence that is not under hospice care the coroner must be called to the scene, Darby said.

“The coroner is a medical, legal person whose job it is to examine the body,” Darby said.

The funeral home handling the body then creates a death certificate which is signed by the coroner once cause of death is determined.

Darby took office in 1993. He has two assistant coroners, Pinyan and Chuck Foster.

Pinyan has worked for Darby since 2006.

“We have been doing this for 20 years and this is the first time we have had this type of altercation,” Darby said Tuesday.