Police Arrest Man Who Asked Brother to Swallow Cocaine

NORTH CHARLESTON — The man who police say asked his brother to swallow cocaine in the back of a patrol car to save him from drug trafficking charges has been arrested.

Deangelo Mitchell, 23, was taken into custody Tuesday.

As Wayne Mitchell allegedly ate an ounce of cocaine in the back of a North Charleston Police car Nov. 30, he can be heard in a video released Monday by the North Charleston Police Department saying "I love you, bro."

Mitchell, 20, later died due to ingesting the drug, after his older brother Deangelo Mitchell, 23, asked him to help avoid a second strike for drug trafficking, according to police.

North Charleston police executed a traffic stop for an inoperable headlamp and observed the driver, Shalon Beaufort, and front passenger, Deangelo Mitchell, allegedly hand something back to the back passenger, Wayne Mitchell. 

Officers asked and received consent to search the vehicle, according to the incident report. Both Wayne and Deangelo Mitchell were placed in the back of the same police car. The film distributed to press is nearly 13 minutes long.

According to the incident report, 52 grams of cocaine seized under the rear seat of the vehicle during the search while the brothers were in the back of the police unit.

Officers were alerted to a problem when Deangelo Mitchell began yelling in a "panicked voice" that his brother was dying. The report noted that Wayne Mitchell was having "a difficult time holding his head up and a star on his face."

As officers removed Wayne Mitchell from the vehicle, he began convulsing, according to the report. 

The responding officers radioed for help with drug ingestion since Deangelo Mitchell said his brother had ingested drugs, according to the report.

While waiting on help, officers noted blood coming from Wayne Mitchell's mouth. Mitchell was taken to Roper St. Francis Hospital.