RICHLAND COUNTY, SC — Two deputies from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, Kory Mayo and Isaac Page, were arrested and charged with misconduct in office after it was discovered they had been stealing K9 equipment and selling it online. The arrests took place on Wednesday morning, with both men facing up to 10 years in prison.
Sheriff Leon Lott revealed the charges during a press conference, offering an apology to the community and expressing his disappointment. Mayo and Page had been working the same shift, and an investigation found that they had been stealing items from the sheriff’s department since February 2024. The stolen goods included K9-related equipment, such as patrol vehicle vaults for gun storage, muzzles, leashes, and other essential tools for the K9 unit.
The thefts came to light when an investigator noticed K9 equipment being sold on social media. Using an undercover identity, the investigator arranged to buy some of the stolen items, and the exchange was set to take place in the sheriff’s department parking lot, with the suspects using a department patrol vehicle to complete the sale.
Sheriff Lott emphasized that Mayo and Page were selling the stolen equipment while on duty, making their betrayal of the department’s trust even more severe. Though the stolen items totaled less than $10,000, the sheriff noted that this crime was significant, as it involved the misuse of law enforcement resources for personal gain.
Both deputies were terminated from their positions last week and were arrested on Wednesday morning. They were booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and are expected to face further legal proceedings.
This case comes on the heels of a difficult year for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, which lost two K9s in 2024. K9 Bumi was tragically killed in December while pursuing suspects involved in a stolen vehicle case, and K9 Wick was killed in June. Despite the negative impact of the scandal, Sheriff Lott reassured the community that Mayo and Page’s actions were not representative of the department as a whole.
“We have 900 good people working for us, and these two did not represent what our department stands for,” Lott said. He also commended the investigator who uncovered the crime, stating, “When the investigator came across it, she didn’t ignore it. She did the right thing.”
