A South Carolina Highway Patrolman was arrested for defrauding his auto insurer in 1999 to collect a quick $20,900 before starting his 14 year law enforcement career.
Ironically, the man grading your driving and deciding if your habits are criminal, drove his own car into a body of water to commit a crime.
State authorities at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) executed an arrest warrant even though Trooper Christopher Felix Costa [__repaid the pilfered cash__](http://wbtw.com/2016/04/07/former-sc-trooper-arrested-after-claiming-vehicle-stolen/) as a reparation to his insurer.
The Trooper’s devious deed surfaced when the car was found in a lagoon.
Costa reported the 1997 Mitsubiti as stolen to the Horry County Sheriff’s Office in 1999 and it was they who exhumed the remains of the trooper’s long lost, but now found vehicle.
And even though he paid it back 17 years later, insurance fraud is still a crime.
Trooper Costa resigned his position on March 31st of this year [__according__](http://wpde.com/news/local/former-trooper-in-horry-county-arrested-for-insurance-fraud) to local news reports.
The 43-year old now ex-Highway Patrolman was [__released__](http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/31669657/former-horry-county-based-highway-patrol-trooper-charged-with-insurance-fraud) on a $5,000 bond.
Costa faces charges that the Horry County prosecutor will have tons of physical evidence to substantiate.
But that’s not what happened recently to an Arkansas lawman accused of torching his own truck, then parading the results around the local newscast.
Those prosecutors had a burnt out truck, and an admission of guilt too.
Bald Knob police chief Erek Balantine still managed to cut a deal with fedearl prosecutors to avoid all charges before paying restitution on his burnt-out pickup truck last month
Because the Arkansas police chief stole a brand new shotgun from the department and picked up a federal felony offense, and prosecutors decided not to charge him.
American jurisprudence demands equal protection under the law, but when it comes to officers accused of wrongdoing, there is not just a different justice system outlook for cops vs. citizens, but from place to place even officers face wildly divergent justice.
Former South Carolina Highway Patrolman Costa would probably get pretty upset finding out that his fellow southerner who committed the same crime, managed to use his ill gotten proceeds to cut a sweet plea deal, while he’s losing his law enforcement career even though he paid the money back before being arrested.
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/03/31/bald-knob-police-chief-cuts-federal-gun-felony-plea-deal-not-charged-with-arson-for-torching-own-truck/
