McMaster’s chief of staff to keep job after DUI charge

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster says his chief of staff will keep his job after being arrested last weekend on a charge of driving under the influence.

Thirty-eight-year-old Mark Plowden was arrested early Saturday when a Columbia police officer saw him driving the wrong way on a divided street.

Police say Plowden refused to take any field sobriety or Breathalyzer test and was charged with first-offense DUI with less than a .10 blood-alcohol level. Refusal to take a Breathalyzer test resulted in an automatic driver’s license suspension.

McMaster said in a statement Monday that he’s known Plowden for 18 years and called him a “professional and a man of integrity and honor.” The lieutenant governor said Plowden had apologized.

He makes an annual salary of $112,000 as McMaster’s chief of staff.