CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – An Horry County police officer was able to resign after he was given a termination letter, and documents obtained by News 13 show the former employee made allegations about the former chief of police.
Former Sgt. Luke Green got a termination letter from former police chief Saundra Rhodes back in March for something that happened nearly two years ago. Green appealed and said Rhodes fired him out of retaliation and that she even admitted he did nothing wrong.
In June of 2014, Horry County Police set up a prostitution bust in a hotel room in Conway. Investigators say one of the suspects fought back and Green used force to get him under control. The suspect claimed his tooth was knocked out. Investigators found Green walked the suspect out of the room, never charged him, and let him go.
All of those allegations were mentioned in a letter of termination written by Rhodes, but what’s not in there, we found in the internal investigation.
It says Green never reported the suspect’s injury or that he used force, until his supervisors found out about it.
Then, investigators claim he looked through the list of suspects and picked out the one that looked most like the man he let go and sent in a report. Later, his supervisors found out he listed the wrong guy.
Investigators finished their report in April of 2015, and nearly a year later, Rhodes sent him a termination letter.
Sgt. Green filed an appeal called a grievance. He said his termination was a result of retaliation by the chief of police and he could provide tangible evidence that the chief stated he did not violate any of the department’s policies and that he was unfairly targeted. Just a few days later, the police department let him resign.
We’ve asked county leaders for that evidence mentioned by Green, and we haven’t heard back. News 13 also spoke with Green’s attorney and Rhodes’ attorney, and neither of them would talk about the allegations.
