Judge drops traffic charges against former Lake City police chief

ORANGEBURG — A judge has thrown out three charges against former Santee Police Chief Kenneth McCaster, who was fired as Lake City’s police chief three years ago amid controversy.

The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reported Wednesday that Deputy Chief Magistrate Cecil Moore ruled there wasn’t enough evidence for the case to go forward.

McCaster was arrested March 20 after a trooper said he noticed a car stopped at an Orangeburg intersection with the driver asleep at the wheel.

State Public Safety Department spokesman Sid Gaulden told The Times and Democrat the trooper investigated when the vehicle didn’t move through several cycles of the traffic light. The trooper said McCaster was asleep in the vehicle.

McCaster was charged with improper parking of a vehicle, public disorderly conduct and open container of alcohol.

McCaster’s attorney, Gerald Davis, when reached for comment March 21, said he expected McMaster to be cleared.

McCaster resigned as Santee police chief in April.

McCaster had been Santee’s police chief since Dec. 5. McCaster replaced Robert Williams, who served as the town's top law enforcement officer for 12 years prior to his dismissal in 2006, according to The Times and Democrat.

Before then, McCaster was a deputy for the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, which he joined after being fired as Lake City’s police chief.

During his time with the sheriff’s office, McCaster and another deputy were shot at point-blank range while investigating what appeared to be a stranded motorist Oct. 15, 2005, The Times and Democrat reported. McCaster was wounded in the left upper arm. Roger Johnson, 29, was found guilty of shooting McCaster and his fellow deputy in August 2006 and was sentenced to life in prison.

McCaster served as Lake City’s police chief for six months, until July 6, 2005, when he was fired by then-city administrator George Simmons.

Simmons said he fired McCaster after the two had a disagreement about the way to handle the situation involving Lake City police officer Maurice Ponteau and Sgt. Shanita McKnight. Ponteau and McKnight had their state police certifications suspended June 29, 2005, by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety Criminal Justice Academy after the academy reports that the officers failed polygraph tests they were given in connection with the same federal investigation.

“He (McCaster) wanted to terminate their employment on June 29, and I wouldn’t let him,” Simmons said in an interview soon after McCaster was fired. “Because of that difference (in opinion), that’s why I’m here and he’s not.”

McCaster issued a public letter to the citizens of Lake City July 8, 2005, in which he explains he was fired after he reported the polygraph results for the three officers who were interviewed in connection with the case of Lake City Police Lt. William Webb.

In his letter, McCaster makes many allegations about the workings of the city’s administration, calling Lake City “a thug-run city” and “a society of illegal administrative practices, sexual relations at work, political favors, nepotism, voter fraud, election fraud, intimidation, bad judicial (court practices), ticket fixing mixed with political pressure and favoritism and defiance and arrogance concerning other law enforcement agencies.”

On March 19, U.S. District Court Judge Terry Wooten sentenced Simmons to 51 months in prison, to run concurrently, followed by three years’ supervised release after Simmons pleaded guilty to federal charges that he took public funds from the sale of Lake City-owned property for his personal use while he held office.

Wooten also ordered Simmons to pay $30,078.19 in restitution and a $300 special assessment, due immediately.

Webb pleaded guilty Oct. 3, 2005, in federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. His plea was part of an agreement with the U.S. government that required him to cooperate fully with the federal investigation into allegations of corruption and illegal drug activities in the Lake City area.
Webb was sentenced Feb. 16, 2006, to 13 years and four months in prison in connection with illegal drug activity. The sentence is to be followed by five years’ supervised release, and he must submit to drug testing and treatment directed by a probation officer.

McKnight officially was charged Aug. 9, 2005, with acceptance of money to conceal an offense involving a felony, misconduct in office, misprision of a felony and obstruction of justice.

On June 26, McKnight and Albergail McFadden, 52, both of Lake City, were indicted on drug trafficking charges. McKnight also is charged with extortion for using her position as a police officer to “wrongfully obtain monies from other individuals,” according to a press release from then-U.S. Attorney Reginald I. Lloyd.