A Greenville County master deputy caught destroying evidence in a drug case has been demoted and suspended for eight hours.

Wes Arflin was the arresting officer in a drug-trafficking case involving a Greenville man. While preparing for trial, attorneys discovered evidence was missing from the man's case file.

A review of surveillance video showed Arflin had taken a wallet that was evidence in the case and threw it in a trash can outside the Sheriff's Office property and evidence room, according to documents in Arflin's personnel file obtained by The Greenville News through the Freedom of Information Act.

Arflin did not immediately respond to a Facebook message for comment for this story.

The drug case was later dismissed, and the man's charges were dropped.

An internal investigation was conducted in April and the allegation was sustained on April 29, documents show.

Arflin was suspended for eight hours, demoted and assigned to another division, said Lt. Ryan Flood, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

A request for the surveillance video that captured Arflin's actions was denied. The Sheriff's Office cited security concerns with releasing the footage.

South Carolina Press Association attorney Taylor Smith said there is no state Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of the language in FOIA laws as it relates to "security plans and devices." Smith interprets the language to apply to proprietary information about those security measures that, if released, would enable the public, and potential criminals, to get a better understanding of how to get around those attempts at security, he said.

"I don’t see how releasing the footage from that device (and not even identifying the make and model of the camera or the software used to run it) would compromise security," Smith said in an email.

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The footage request was again denied when The Greenville News argued whether the reason for refusal was a valid exemption in open records laws.

"Your FOIA request has been fulfilled completely in compliance with our office," legal investigator Michael McGaha said in an email. "Your interpretation of FOIA law is not required by this agency for debate."

Arflin made the arrest in the drug-trafficking case on June 25, 2018, after deputies went to a home in Marietta to search for a man believed to be involved in methamphetamine trafficking.

Danny Charles Mullinax was arrested after deputies seized a backpack near him that contained bags of methamphetamine, marijuana, cash, two handguns and drug paraphernalia, according to an incident report and internal affairs documents. A wallet was also recovered but never listed on a search warrant, the internal affairs document states.

The wallet allegedly contained an identification card belonging to someone else, documents state.

During the internal investigation, Arflin admitted to finding a wallet with two identification cards in it, but he decided it was not pertinent to the case, the investigative documents state.

"MD Arflin said he feels he discarded the wallet in question because he did not feel it had anything to do with the case," the investigative documents states. "MD Arflin described the wallet as being 'rough.' Earlier in the interview, he described it as being 'dry rotted.'"

In all, a credit card, Mullinax's identification card and someone else's driver's license were seized from the Marietta property but never made it into the property and evidence room, the memo states. In addition to tossing the wallet, Arflin is seen on video throwing away a Waffle House bag, which was presumed to contain the other lost items, the report states.

The wallet may have contained evidence that was favorable to Mullinax, said Larry Crane, Mullinax's defense attorney. Crane said that's why the case was ultimately dismissed.

"Based on this video right here, we made a motion to dismiss because we don't have the opportunity to cross-examine those other people whose ID it was," Crane told The Greenville News in May. "We don't know whose IDs they were. The other evidence was obviously intentionally destroyed, thrown away."

When preparing for Mullinax's case, Crane went to the Sheriff's Office to review evidence and noticed evidence was missing. That triggered the investigation that found surveillance video showing Arflin tossing something into a trash can after cataloging his evidence from the case.

The Sheriff's Office was notified, and Arflin was placed on paid administrative leave while the agency conducted an internal investigation.

Arlin had been promoted to master deputy in September 2018 after he had made the arrest in the drug case. He scored high on his latest employee evaluation, and his supervisor added comments to his file that he "goes the extra mile to make good cases to benefit his community."

"Wes knows his community well and continues to be an aggressive deputy that makes solid cases," his evaluation states.

Arflin had another internal affairs complaint sustained previously, and it also involved surveillance video, his personnel file shows. He was the subject of an excessive force complaint by a Greenville County jail inmate in 2014.

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An internal investigation that involved reviewing surveillance video showed that Arflin pushed an inmate into a cell, causing the inmate to fall to the floor while handcuffed. The inmate was provided medical treatment, the report states.

Investigators ruled that Arflin used the amount of force necessary based on the inmate's egregious actions but that the application of his force was poorly executed, the report shows.

In an interview during the investigation, Arflin said, "I didn't push him hard; I thought he tripped over his own feet."

Arflin joined the Sheriff's Office in 2011 in his first law enforcement job in South Carolina, according to the state Criminal Justice Academy.

Daniel J. Gross covers public safety and breaking news for The Greenville News. Reach him at dgross@greenvillenews.com or on Twitter @danieljgross.

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