Lance Cpl. Chad A. Williams submitted his letter of resignation Friday and it's effective immediately, said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Senior Trooper R.V. Giddens has been suspended without pay since Aug. 1, Gaulden said.

The State Law Enforcement Division was called Aug. 1 by the Highway Patrol to investigate the incident that occurred on or around July 20, said SLED chief Robert Stewart.

"I guess the best way to categorize this is that it's an allegation of excessive use of force," he said.

No charges have been filed against the troopers, Stewart said. He said SLED will turn over information from the investigation to 1st Circuit Solicitor Walter Bailey, who will decide whether to file charges. Bailey could not be reached for comment Friday, and Stewart said he did not know when the investigation would be finished.

"We're working as expeditiously, but as thoroughly, as possible," he said.

Neither Stewart nor Gaulden would say whether the incident was captured on cameras often used on state troopers' cars.

Williams had been with the Highway Patrol since July 1996. Giddens has been on the force since July 2000.

Williams was in the spotlight July 4 when he was struck in the right shoulder by a bolt of lightning while responding to a traffic accident on Interstate 95. He was not injured seriously and returned to work shortly after the strike.

Last month's incident was not the first time a South Carolina state trooper has come under fire for allegations of excessive force.

In 1996, Lance Cpl. W.H. Beckwith dragged Sandra Antor from her car with his gun drawn after she refused to stop in Clarendon County. Antor said she did not know that Beckwith, who was driving an unmarked car, was a trooper. The incident was filmed by a camera in Beckwith's vehicle, and the trooper was fired.

On July 4, 2000, Trooper Derrick S. Burbage was caught on tape running alongside a fleeing suspect's car and opening fire on him in North Charleston, hitting him three times. A grand jury indicted Burbage on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill, but 9th Circuit Solicitor Ralph Hoisington dismissed the charge.

He also dismissed a charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and Burbage was restored to administrative duty.

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