SC Emergency spokesperson arrested for distributing meth drugs

According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, a spokesman for the South Carolina Emergency Management Division was arrested on drug charges on September 20.

Charles Derrec Bond Becker, 43, was arrested by Columbia police at his home Friday morning, booked into the Lexington County Detention Center Friday evening and released Saturday morning on $10,000 personal bond.

According to the Lexington County Sheriff's Office, officials with the Emergency Management Division and the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division notified Lexington County deputies on Sept. 17 of a “ziplock bag” found in the Emergency Management Division parking lot on Fish Hatchery Road.

The bag contained drug paraphernalia and a bag containing a “clear, crystal-like substance consistent with meth,” the sheriff's office said.

Drug agents confirmed the substance was methamphetamine, the Lexington County Sheriff's Office wrote in an email.

The sheriff's office said video footage from security cameras in the Emergency Management Division parking lot shows Becker carrying the bag before setting it down and walking away to make a phone call.

The Department of Emergency Management did not respond to a request for comment. According to Becker's LinkedIn profile, he has worked at the department for more than seven years as director of public information and external relations.