5-word report in DUI case a red flag

A skimpy report about Mount Pleasant police Maj. Frank Riccio's arrest wasn't consistent with how state troopers normally document a drunken driver, and officials vowed Thursday that future accountings would be more thorough.

Frank Riccio

Footage of S.C. Highway Patrol dashboard video of a trooper giving now former Mount Pleasant Police Dept. Maj. Frank Riccio a field sobriety test and arresting him on a charge of driving under the influence, after a motor vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 17 in Georgetown County on March 3, 2012.

The incident report, filed after Riccio crashed his Jeep near Georgetown on March 3, offers only five words: "Subject arrested for DUI refusal."

It differs widely from how other police agencies in the Lowcountry document a suspect's behavior. Officers typically note how a suspect performs in a field sobriety test, any conversation he has with an officer -- other physical indicators of drunkenness.

Trooper Larry Miller's report about Riccio was insufficient, said Sid Gaulden, a spokesman for the S.C. Department of Public Safety. On Wednesday, the day after The Post and Courier inquired about the sparse report, Highway Patrol commanders ordered that all troopers' incident reports contain a detailed summary, Gaulden said.

"Every time an arrest is made, there should be a full-fledged incident report filled out," he said.

Troopers have said they rely on video taken from their patrol cars to document arrests and that they sometimes jot notes if anything happens outside the camera's view. It's not entered into an incident report, they have said.

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5-word report in DUI case a red flag

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