![]() ![]() State records indicate those charges are still pending. Sheriff Lemon is fine and in good health,” the release added, noting that Johnson was charged with assaulting a police officer and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. “Johnson was detained by Sheriff Lemon and the deputy without injury to Johnson. Notably, authorities claimed at the time that neither the sheriff nor Johnson were injured during the scuffle-and did not mention the use of a Taser at all. Lemon went to the jail himself to help, and the statement claimed he was personally assaulted as Johnson tried to escape his cell. The statement noted that after Johnson’s arrest, Marlboro County Detention Center asked for help because his behavior was “putting the safety of the jail at risk”-but did not go into detail. When the unnamed individual went to retrieve it, Johnson allegedly “struck him with a baseball bat and his fists several times.” While the details of what led Lemon to allegedly order his deputy to use a Taser on Johnson multiple times remain unclear, a Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office press release from the same day noted that the 34-year-old was arrested after allegedly throwing somebody’s Bible in the trash. I tried to stand up to a historically oppressive and systemically racist institution and tried to be a change and tried to make a change.” Today I chose my integrity over my income. Today I chose my character over corruption. The charges against Lemon and his former deputy came just days after three Marlboro investigators mysteriously resigned from the department.Īccording to local ABC affiliate WPDE, one of the departed investigators posted on social media about the resignation, inveighing, “Today was my last day wearing this badge. Conservative cities, therefore, have more conservative sheriffs. In progressive cities, you’re going to find progressive sheriffs. “To some extent, because they are popularly elected, sheriffs reflect the norms and values of their electorate. Stoughton, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina who testified in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, told The Daily Beast earlier this year that while “sheriffs are a little weird in most states, South Carolina seems to have a high level of sheriff problems.” Prosecutors have accused these elected officials with a slew of crimes, ranging from sexual harassment to accepting bribes to getting inmates to do personal work-all while donning the badge labeling them as one of the pillars in their community. Neither Lemon nor Cook immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday, and it was unclear if they had attorneys.īut Lemon, who served as chief deputy in the same department for 12 years prior to securing the top official spot in Marlboro County, is just one of at least a dozen sheriffs in South Carolina to be charged with criminal wrongdoing in the last decade. The Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the charges. “Deputy Cook is no longer employed in law enforcement,” the attorney general’s office added. Henry McMaster to suspend Lemon from the post he has held since 2017 and appoint former Bennettsville Chief of Police Larry McNeil as interim sheriff. The indictments immediately prompted Gov. The indictment alleges that Lemon ordered Cook to deploy his Taser on Johnson at the Marlboro County Detention Center at least twice-including the chest and leg-to subdue him, even though the man was already “inside the jail.” Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon and former Deputy David Andrew Cook were both indicted on assault and battery and misconduct charges Tuesday in connection with a May 2020 incident involving Jarrell Lee Johnson of Bennettsville at the county jail, according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. A South Carolina sheriff is facing multiple charges after allegedly ordering a deputy to use his Taser on an inmate already in custody, in a disturbing case that shines a fresh spotlight on a state with a long and sordid history of misconduct by elected lawmen. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |