Solicitor's office awards its 'top cop' honor to Mullinax

 

By TIM GULLA
Ledger Staff Writer
tim@gaffneyledger.com

Deputy Brian Mullinax (left) and Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy. (Ledger photo / TIM GULLA)

One man went on a rampage with a stolen front end loader, resulting in the death of an innocent bystander and forcing police to open fire.

Another man killed five local residents before his reign of terror ended in a police shootout.

Yet another man, an accused kidnapper from North Carolina, brought another act of terror here, firing at local police before he himself was shot.

"This past year has been like no other year in the history of this beloved community," 7th Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy said at an annual dinner Tuesday night honoring local law enforcement. Through it all, he said, "I am more convinced than ever that law enforcement is a calling."

While seven other law enforcement officers were singled out for their accomplishments and dedication, a four-year member of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office was selected by a panel of local law enforcement officials as the recipient of the 2009 Solicitor's Award for Law Enforcement Excellence.

Deputy Brian Mullinax, who took home the award, accepted it with humility, saying he was surprised by the accolade.

"It could have went to anybody in this room," he said before his peers in attendance at the Cherokee Shrine Club, where the dinner was held.

Mullinax added that he didn't do anything that anybody else in the room wouldn't have done.

Mullinax is an Iraq war veteran and serves as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army National Guard. A former reserve deputy with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office before he was hired full time, he also is a volunteer firefighter with the CKC Fire Department.

Gowdy credited Mullinax for his work in several high-profile cases, including the apprehension of Jerry Douglas Case, a North Carolina man accused of kidnapping a family from Belmont, N.C., and firing a pellet gun at pursing bloodhound tracking team members, which included Mullinax, in a densely vegetated swampy area July 18.

Mullinax also was part of a six-member team of deputies last November that had to stop an area man who went on a rampage with a stolen 10-ton front end loader and killed an innocent bystander.

Mullinax is a multiple winner of the Cherokee County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission's annual award for drunk driving arrests. He has recorded more than 30 DUI arrests already this year in addition to his standard duties as a patrol deputy.

While he didn't receive the top award, Gowdy also lauded the work of Cherokee County Deputy Steve Bright, who was with Mullinax when they apprehended Case. Bright was struck by a pellet from Case's gun, but luckily suffered only a minor injury.

Case was incapacitated when the officers returned fire.

"The actions of deputies Mullinax and Bright were heroic," Gowdy said. "They defused a dangerous situation in a matter of seconds."

Gowdy said the police committee that decides the awards "had a difficult decision this year in light of recent community events."

The solicitor added, "We had many deserving officers."

Finalists for the Excellence in Law Enforcement Award who also were honored at Tuesday night's dinner were: Heath White of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Officer Jeff Sizemore of the Gaffney Police Department, Steve Bright, Gerald Spencer and John Boyd of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, reserve deputy Rick Peterson of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Senior Special Agent Darrell Betsill.