State Rep. Wallace Scarborough will not be prosecuted for firing a gun during
a confrontation with two SCE&G linemen last week.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Ralph Hoisington said Friday that Scarborough's
conduct did not amount to assault with intent to kill.
"I don't think we can prove there was any intent to harm somebody,"
Hoisington said.
Additionally, he said South Carolina Electric & Gas and the lawmaker want
to put the matter to rest.
Hoisington called the dispute "a misunderstanding that escalated" in the
dark. He made the call as Charleston County's top elected prosecutor.
Scarborough, 47, was arrested July 15 by Charleston police after firing a
single round from a 9 mm pistol.
At the time, two of the utility's linemen were inspecting storm damage in the
backyard of his parents' home in The Crescent neighborhood in West Ashley.
The three-term Republican was alone, house-sitting, and said he thought the
men might be robbers. The gun went off by accident, he said, firing a round into
the ground after he tripped while walking away from the pair.
On Friday, Scarborough issued a statement through his attorney, Bart Daniel,
in which he said he regretted the incident.
"I recognize that SCE&G linemen have a difficult job and they have a
legal right to be in my yard in order to restore power to me or to the rest of
the neighborhood," the statement read.
"While we had power that night, I did not know at the time that some houses
in the neighborhood did not."
The statement concluded, "I regret the incident and encourage anyone facing a
similar situation to call the police."
SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower said the company accepted Scarborough's
"expression of regret" as an apology.
"In light of Mr. Scarborough's apology and his acknowledgement that our
employees were doing their jobs appropriately and were within their rights to be
on his property that evening, we will not push for prosecution," Boomhower
said.
The decision not to pursue the charges sparked criticism from some Democrats,
in part because Hoisington also is a Republican.
Charleston County Democratic Party Chairman Waring Howe Jr. questioned
whether the case would have been dropped were this not an election year and had
not as many Republicans been involved.
Scarborough, of James Island, faces Democrat Eugene Platt in the House
District 115 race in November. Hoisington is not up for re-election this
year.
The more usual course, Howe said, would have been to take the case to a grand
jury, "which is an objective body," Howe said, or to file a lesser offense.
State Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, said Scarborough should have insisted
on his day in court, if only to silence any accusations of favoritism.
"That's what people think about it, that (legislators) get special
privileges," Ford said.
Scarborough had a right to venture outside with his gun, Ford said, but added
that he should have offered assistance when the men said they were utility
workers.
"If I get in trouble, I want to go to court like everybody else," Ford
said.
Scarborough said in his statement that he erred the first moment he saw
flashlights in the backyard.
"At that point I should have called 911," he said.
Scarborough said he was fearful of robberies in the neighborhood and said his
parents' home has had "periodic break-ins."
Charleston police could not provide detailed statistics late Friday on the
number of break-ins in the The Crescent neighborhood. But police officials know
of no rash of break-ins in the area, spokesman Charles Francis said.
"There has been no spike in crime in The Crescent," he said. "It's one of the
nicest neighborhoods in the city."
Staff reporter Glenn Smith contributed to this report.
Reach Schuyler Kropf at skropf@postandcourier.com or
937-5551.
