Watson upset with shoddy records, SLED says

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - Former South Carolina football star Derek Watson failed to keep track of his Upstate community service and was upset that the head of the agency where he was supposed to work didn&#39;t have better documentation, according to a State Law Enforcement Division investigation. <br> <br> Watson, who was doing the community service as part of his sentence on a drug conviction, spent a night in jail last year because neither he nor Forest Thomas, head of the Northern Anderson County Emergency Medical Services, could provide documents showing how many hours Watson had worked. <br> <br> Watson and Thomas were charged with contempt in August 2002 by Greenville Municipal Judge Matt Hawley. Eventually, the charges against both men were thrown out by Judge Paul Short. <br> <br> Hawley ordered SLED to investigate Watson&#39;s dealings with the EMS unit. SLED agents met with Watson at the Greenville County Detention Center on Aug. 27, the day of his release from jail, according to agency documents obtained by The Associated Press through the state&#39;s Freedom of Information Act. <br> <br> Watson said he never wrote down when or how long he worked at the EMS station. ``Watson stated that he expected Forest Thomas to be familiar with the proper record-keeping system, as he had spoke of participating in community service programs previously,&#39;&#39; according to the report prepared by SLED Special Agent Jeffrey L. Kindley. ``Watson added that he was upset with Thomas for not keeping better records.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Watson told investigators he didn&#39;t like to get up early and had a lot of ``running around&#39;&#39; to do, so typically he worked at night. He said he washed ambulances and did cleaning jobs at the station. <br> <br> Sometimes, Watson said Thomas would call and tell him to get to the EMS station ``and let them see your face before they leave,&#39;&#39; the report said. <br> <br> Watson told investigators he met Thomas at a local gym about two years earlier. Watson said Thomas never provided him with transportation to and from the station and was rarely there. <br> <br> The first time Watson saw the record of 82 hours about a third of the 240 ordered by Hawley was at attorney Beattie Ashmore&#39;s office. ``Does this look right?&#39;&#39; Watson remembered Thomas asking. Watson told agents he wasn&#39;t sure since he never monitored his time. <br> <br> Watson refused to give agents a written statement. He told them his back hurt from sleeping on the jail floor and he needed to get to class at South Carolina State, where Watson went after he was dismissed from the South Carolina football team by coach Lou Holtz in January 2002. <br> <br> At a hearing last August, Ashmore told Hawley that Watson had trouble finishing his sentence because of work. <br> <br> However, SLED agents were unable to find proof of Watson&#39;s employment. An Anderson County car wash owned or operated by a close friend of Watson&#39;s, Antwan Andre Galloway, was unoccupied when agents stopped by. They could not reach anyone by phone, the report said. <br> <br> Agents were told that Watson worked with Rip Williford, who operates a mobile car wash. However, messages left at the business were not returned. <br> <br> Thomas told investigators he wasn&#39;t always there when Watson was, so other workers left notes with the times, dates and hours. Thomas would then write them in a note pad. Thomas told agents he had thrown away original notes left for him. <br> <br> Cindy Langguth, a secretary at the EMS office, told agents she would write Watson&#39;s days and hours ``on sticky notes ... and pass them along to my boss.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Thomas said in his written statement to SLED that ``This is the process that has been used for the past 12-14 years and we have never had any other correspondence.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Langguth and dispatcher Kelly Elrod said they remembered Watson because they would comment how ``he would change his hairstyle from day to day,&#39;&#39; according to the report. <br> <br> SLED&#39;s case was closed Jan. 15. Kindley wrote the charges against Watson and Thomas were overturned. ``Watson completed his community service in Orangeburg County. No further action required,&#39;&#39; the report ended. <br> <br> Watson ran for 1,066 yards with South Carolina in 2000. However, his college career stumbled after that. Watson signed as a free agent with the NFL&#39;s New England in May, but was released by the Patriots last month.