Pubdate: Sun, 26 Oct 2003
Source: Herald, The (SC)
Copyright: 2003 The Herald
Contact:  http://www.heraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/369
Author: Tim Eberly
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

STATE TROOPER CAUGHT IN DRUG RAID

A S.C. Highway Patrol trooper and his father were arrested Friday night on 
charges he was helping his father sell crack cocaine, alcohol and gambling 
tickets out of the older man's Rock Hill home. Trooper Tony Caldwell, 37, 
of Spartanburg and his father, Eugene Caldwell, 56, are each facing two 
crack cocaine distribution charges and a single count of receiving and 
possessing stolen goods. Eugene Caldwell also has been charged with 
unlawful storage of liquor, bookmaking, possession of marijuana and 
operating a business without a license.

Tony Caldwell was released from the Rock Hill Law Center at 5:45 p.m. 
Saturday after posting $10,000 bond. Eugene Caldwell was being held at the 
jail Saturday night on $10,500 bond.

Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the S.C. Depart-ment of Public Safety, said Tony 
Caldwell has been suspended without pay. Assigned to the Spartanburg area, 
he has been a trooper with the Highway Patrol since the summer of 2002. 
Tony Caldwell and his father are originally from Chester.

About 8:30 p.m. Friday, agents from the York County Multijurisdictional 
Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant at Eugene Caldwell's home 
at 140 E. Moore St. The task force made an undercover crack buy from Eugene 
Caldwell earlier in the week, said Marvin Brown, senior commander of the 
task force.

When they went inside the home, Tony Caldwell, who was off-duty and dressed 
in plain clothes, rushed into the kitchen and threw a bag of crack into a 
sink, Brown said. Narcotics officers recovered the plastic bag, which 
contained five rocks of crack.

They also found a plastic bag with three rocks of crack in Tony Caldwell's 
pocket, Brown said.

In all, officers seized 1 gram of crack from Tony Caldwell and 4.5 grams 
from his father. Agents found five $100 bags of crack on Eugene Caldwell's 
dresser, Brown said. They also seized $150 from Tony Caldwell and about 
$1,300 from Eugene Caldwell.

The task force had received numerous complaints of drug activity at the 
home in the past several weeks, Brown said.

A sign outside the home was marked, "Open."

There were four refrigerators in the house and more than 20 cases of beer 
and numerous bottles of liquor, Brown said. Agents also recovered stolen 
VCR's, power tools and car radios, all of which were presumably traded for 
drugs or alcohol, Brown said.

Two Highway Patrol officers were called to the scene Friday night. Brown 
said the trooper was not targeted in the probe.

Tony Caldwell had two Highway Patrol-issued weapons -- one strapped to his 
ankle and the other in his personal vehicle. He also had his trooper 
identification with him.

"He was nice about the whole thing, but our indication was that he and his 
daddy were selling crack," Brown said.
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