By Marlon A. Walker
The News & Observer
RALEIGH, N.C. — State Highway Patrol officials confirmed a fourth trooper has been fired for violating patrol policy, further darkening the cloud over an agency already dealing with negative publicity from several misconduct-related firings in recent weeks.
A patrol spokesman, Lt. Everett Clendenin, said Wednesday that trooper Eric D. Pender, a 20-year veteran, was fired Aug. 24. Pender worked out of the patrol’s Hoke County district. Clendenin would not specify the reason for Pender’s dismissal, citing state personnel laws.
“It was something of an ongoing investigation,” Clendenin said. “We had been investigating the issue earlier and, based on the findings, he was fired.”
Efforts to reach Pender, 43, at his Raeford home Wednesday night were unsuccessful.
His firing is the latest to come to light as the patrol deals with the dismissals of three other employees over a two-week period and one suspended Sunday for misconduct related to the job.
On Aug. 31, the patrol dismissed trooper Scott Harrison, who had been accused of targeting female drivers in traffic stops. The Wake County district attorney had dismissed cases against 82 drivers Harrison had pulled over and expects to dismiss more.
Two days later, trooper Michael A. Steele Jr. quit to avoid termination after investigators reviewed a complaint that Steele had sexually assaulted a woman during a traffic stop and told her husband that immigration agents were on their way.
On Sunday, the patrol dismissed Sgt. Charles L. Jones, a canine handler, after a fellow trooper recorded him abusing his dog during a training exercise. Two supervisors are being investigated for not reporting Jones’ actions after viewing the abuses on video, officials said.
On Sunday morning, trooper John B. Warren, 41, was charged with driving while impaired in Nash County. Patrol officials said Nash County sheriff’s officers responding to a domestic dispute near Nashville found Warren had driven to the residence while he was intoxicated. He has been placed on investigative leave, officials said.
Steele and Jones are being criminally investigated for the incidents that cost them their jobs.
Clendenin said Pender’s dismissal was not related to anything done on the job.
“We expect our troopers to obey all North Carolina laws,” he said, “and when they don’t, they run the risk of losing their jobs.”
Pender was assigned to Hoke County district.
Copyright 2007 The News & Observer