Case against ex-officer dismissed

Prosecutors have dismissed their case against a former Moncks Corner police officer who was accused of asking his fellow officers to help plant drugs and guns in his ex-girlfriend's vehicle in 2005, authorities said.

The alleged victim in the case told prosecutors she did not want to testify at trial against former officer Jerry Reynolds, 9th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Bryan A. Alfaro said. Without her, the case could not go forward, he said.

Reynolds, 62, said he felt vindicated by the prosecutor's decision. "To me, this was a set-up," he said. "They never had witnesses. They had nothing."

State Law Enforcement Division agents arrested Reynolds in October 2005 on a charge of official misconduct by a police officer. Investigators accused him of approaching fellow officers with a plan to put illegal drugs or possibly a stolen gun in his ex-girlfriend's Jeep. Reynolds and the ex-girlfriend, Nichole Maynard Kelly, have a 5-year-old son together. She could not be reached for comment.

Reynolds has said the idea of planting evidence came up in passing, as something of a joke, and that he was not the one who brought it up. A stolen gun and illegal drugs, however, were found in Maynard Kelly's Jeep one morning in April 2005, according to a police report. No one was charged with planting evidence in the case; the charges related only to a plan that was discussed, not carried out.

Alfaro said he dismissed the charge in July 2008. Reynolds, however, said he only recently learned from his former attorney, Stanley Feldman, that the case had been dropped. It was unclear why he wasn't informed earlier. Reynolds, who works in loss prevention for Super Kmart in North Charleston, said he doesn't know if he will try to return to law enforcement.

His former boss, Moncks Corner Police Chief Chad Caldwell, said Reynolds was a conscientious officer with a good record.

Reach Glenn Smith at gsmith@postandcourier.com.