Police major charged with DUI

A Mount Pleasant police major is charged with driving under the influence after wrecking his Jeep Saturday afternoon.

Maj. Frank Riccio, second in command at the department, is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, Mount Pleasant Police Capt. Stan Gragg said Sunday.

Riccio, 51, was driving a 1997 Jeep south on U.S. Highway 17 about three miles south of Georgetown when he wrecked it at 2:05 p.m., Highway Patrol Cpl. Bob Beres said Sunday. The Jeep ran off the left side of the road and into the median where it overturned on its side, Beres said.

Riccio was charged with DUI and taken to the Georgetown County Detention Center. He was released on a $997 personal recognizance bond Sunday morning.

The police department is not releasing any more information during the investigation, Gragg said.

The town of Mount Pleasant is a state leader in DUI arrests. In 2010, it took 437 people to jail for drinking and driving, a 12 percent increase over the previous year.

From 1998 to 2008, Mount Pleasant had 2,796 DUI arrests, the most of any municipality in the state.

"One of our major goals is the safety of our citizens," Police Chief Harry Sewell said in July. The majority of driving fatalities involve drinking, he said.

The state Department of Public Safety last summer recognized the town police department as Agency of the Year for DUI arrests and education.