COLUMBIA, S.C. - A former South Carolina Highway Patrolman has been arrested and charged for allegedly pocketing money he collected from traffic tickets, the State Law Enforcement Division said Friday.

William Kelly Pierce, 33, of Columbia was charged with three counts of misconduct in office. He was arrested at 8:15 a.m. Friday and booked at the Richland County Detention Center.

Pierce issued traffic tickets last March in Beaufort County and last September in the Jasper County. He accepted $232 in each case, but failed to turn the money into the court, according to arrest warrants.

The warrant say Pierce admitted to taking money and putting it to personal use during biker weeks in Horry County last May.

Pierce was arrested on similar charges in January and February. Pierce issued three tickets to a man during a traffic stop in Aiken County and accepted $541 that he did not turn into the court, arrest warrants say.

The warrants say Pierce used between $6,000 and $10,000 of traffic ticket money for his personal use.

He was terminated from his job as a state trooper in February.