A top official

at the Fayette County Sheriff's Department has been suspended for "mishandling

evidence" relating to an internal investigation, The Citizen has

confirmed.

Maj. Ken Rose

was suspended from the department recently, according to an official close

to the investigation. Details of the suspension were unavailable at press

time Thursday afternoon because Sheriff's Department officials were unavailable

for comment.

The evidence

in question is a videotape that depicts a sheriff's deputy using force

to subdue an armed robbery suspect who led police on a chase through Fayetteville,

the official confirmed, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Representatives

of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have already reviewed a copy of

the tape, the source confirmed. The FBI is seeking the medical records

of the suspect as part of its investigation, the source added.

The physical

force used by the deputy was appropriate and no action was taken against

him, Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department said

last week. The deputy told officials that the use of force was appropriate

because the suspect, Melvin Mitchell, 22, refused to reveal his hands,

which could have been holding a weapon at the time, Jordan has said previously.

Rose heads

the patrol division at the Sheriff's Department. It is unclear if his

duty status will change once his suspension ends.

An attorney

for Mitchell, who was later charged with murder because his vehicle struck

and killed another motorist, claimed police brutally beat him while making

the arrest.

"Look

at his face," attorney Dwight Thomas told a throng of reporters and

television cameras after a recent hearing in Fayette County Magistrate

Court.

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