SC deputy had troubled work history before arrest

The arrest of Anderson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Kevin McAlister this month on a charge of domestic violence is part of a troubling spiral that includes other disciplinary issues and even a willful failure to perform his duties, according to records obtained exclusively by the Independent Mail.

Less than a month before McAlister's arrest, he was warned Aug. 18 to stop contacting someone who is unidentified in the records. When he was accused of attempting contact again, McAlister was moved to a different beat. But McAlister, a road patrol deputy, didn't want to be in a different area. He began sending his supervisor, Staff Sgt. Tony DiGirolamo, a series of negative text messages during a seven-hour period.

McAlister made accusations that the person who complained about him "has control over the department," and that a lieutenant on his shift dictates what happens on the shift. McAlister told his supervisor that he had done nothing wrong and that he "was out" if he had to be on a new beat.

DiGirolamo recommended that McAlister be suspended for three days "due to his insubordinate behavior," records show. That behavior included McAlister contacting Sheriff Chad McBride directly when McAlister didn't like his supervisor's decision to transfer him to a new beat.

At 8:16 p.m. Aug. 18, McAlister sent a text message apologizing for his behavior, according to records.

Several officers reviewed DiGirolamo's recommendation to suspend McAlister. Chief Deputy Mike Mitchell wrote Aug. 28 that McAlister's history with the agency was "abysmal at best" and that any further disciplinary issues should result in his termination, according to records.

The records, including McAlister's personnel file and two 911 calls made the night of his arrest, were released to the Independent Mail in response to a Freedom of Information request.

Attempts to reach McAlister for comment on the records have not been successful. The publicly listed phone number for McAlister has been disconnected and he did not respond to a direct message sent to him through Facebook.

The records show that McAlister's troubles began at the Liberty Police Department, before he was ever hired to work under then-Sheriff John Skipper in March 2016.

The files also show that McAlister scored low on two key parts of an independent, pre-hire assessment that evaluates the integrity and reliability of job candidates at the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.

Investigator Nikki Carson discovered that McAlister was suspended from police duty in Liberty at the time he was applying for a deputy's position. She flagged his application and sent it back to administrators for further review, but he was hired anyway.

Critical issues

The Sheriff's Office, at least through 2016, used an independent, automated survey as part of its evaluation to determine a job candidate's workplace values and fitness to be a deputy. If something in a candidate's response appeared unusual, it was flagged as a "critical issue" that interviewers should delve into and question.

McAlister's evaluation flagged several trouble spots, including "inconsistent responses" to questions about his work history. He responded that he had never quit a job without giving notice, but also said that he gave no notice, or planned to give no notice, before leaving the employer he worked for when he applied to the Sheriff's Office.

The evaluation also flagged certain characteristics, including his beliefs that it is "best not to trust anyone" in a work situation and that people are "two-faced some to keep down problems." The evaluation also flagged his admission that he has "little sympathy for people who stick to their old ways when doing so results in their unhappiness." It also flagged the fact that he agreed with the statement: "Everybody will cheat and steal if they know they won't get caught."

His attitudes were rated on a 10-point scale, with higher scores being better and lower scores indicating risk factors. On "integrity" and "reliability," McAlister scored a four and a three, respectively.

The independent evaluation is undated, but appears to be from 2016, when McAlister applied for work at the Sheriff's Office.

McBride took office in January 2017, but it does not appear that he repeated the same evaluation on McAlister.

Carson, now a spokeswoman for Sheriff's Office, was acting in her capacity as an investigator in the office of professional standards when she made a 2016 note about McAlister's work history. McAlister worked at Liberty Police Department before applying to be a county deputy, but he wasn't simply trying to move up.

At the time he applied for a deputy's position, he was on suspension from the Liberty Police Department for deciding not to respond to a call about a "mental subject," according to records. He decided not to go because there had been "numerous and repeated calls and responses for service for the same subject," according to Anderson County records.

McAlister was "encouraged to resign" from the Liberty Police Department, according to Anderson County records.

Still, the Liberty police lieutenant who was contacted about him said he would be "a good fit," for the Sheriff's Office, according to records.

Losing his badge

A 911 caller spoke calmly and matter-of-factly as he relayed troubling information that would soon change McAlister's life.

It was 4:21 a.m. Sept. 15.

"I need to speak with your on-call lieutenant," the caller told a dispatcher.

The unusual request surprised her.

"You need to speak with a road supervisor?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

He went on to tell the dispatcher that the South Carolina Highway Patrol should be contacted, too, so troopers could be on the lookout for a white Ford F-250 on U.S. 178 headed toward Easley or Liberty. He described the truck as carrying a silver toolbox and having a "first responder" sticker in a back window.

The caller's name was redacted from the recording provided to the Independent Mail.

The caller told the dispatcher he needed to talk to a supervisor because a deputy was involved in a domestic dispute.

"Has anyone there been drinking?" the dispatcher asked.

"Kevin has, yes ma'am," the caller said. "And he's on the road behind the wheel right now."

A few minutes later, the same man called 911 to see how much longer it would be before officers arrived. He said he was worried about McAlister coming back to the house.

Records indicate that McAlister's wife had hidden his keys in an attempt to keep him from driving that early morning Sept. 15. But when he decided he wanted to leave, "an argument ensued and it became physical," according to records.

Before the sun set that day, Kevin McAlister was in jail, ordered to undergo substance abuse counseling and to not have any firearms. And his wife was seeking an order of protection from him "as soon as he can be served," records show.

McAlister has since been released from jail.

He showed "extreme indifference to the value of human life by knowingly and intentionally impeding the normal breathing or circulation of blood" of someone by placing the person in a chokehold, according to an arrest warrant. The name of the alleged victim was redacted from the warrant provided to the Independent Mail by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

McAlister was off duty and was also on "nondisciplinary" leave at the time of the incident, Steve Combs, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office, said in a Sept. 15 interview after McAlister's arrest.

Combs said he could not disclose the nature or length of McAlister's leave, citing HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is legislation that includes measures for safeguarding medical information.

McBride said in a previous interview that when officers knew the domestic violence case in Liberty involved a Sheriff's Office deputy, SLED was called in to handle the investigation.

SLED handles investigations of law enforcement officers in the state.

McAlister was terminated on the day of his arrest, records show.

"It's important to me that our officers are not only healthy at work, but healthy at home," McBride said. "You don't always know what people are struggling with when they aren't at work."