One case that hasn’t been investigated yet involves allegations that a black Columbia college student on his way to a new fast-food job was stopped and handcuffed to a guardrail on I-77 by a trooper, according to a letter from his mother to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, which was forwarded to DPS investigators. It also alleges that he was made to pull down his pants and remove his shoes and that he was taunted with a racial slur.

The allegations also include that officers ripped apart the dashboard of the car, which he had borrowed from his mother, and then gave him a $400 ticket when he couldn’t prove the car was covered by insurance, which she insisted it was, according to the records.  "Eric was devastated by the officer’s behavior and reminded me that I say they are there to protect and serve," Celeste Pinckney wrote March 7, according to a copy of a transcribed letter released Friday.

The officer was on a Patrol motorcycle, according to the letter, which isn’t equipped with video cameras.

The racial slur allegation came seven weeks after Gov. Mark Sanford withdrew his nomination of the current DPS director, Jim Schweitzer, after viewing a videotape showing a white state trooper using a racial slur and threatening a black man.