COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A trooper has been arrested after a State Law Enforcement Division agent said he struck two handcuffed men during a traffic stop.
Former Lance Cpl. Chad Williams was arrested around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Orangeburg County and charged with two counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, SLED said,
Williams, 28, resigned from the Highway Patrol last week. He was a seven-year veteran of the force and made the news last month when he survived being struck by lightning on the Interstate 95 bridge over Lake Marion.
Williams was arrested after SLED agents reviewed a videotape of a July 20 traffic stop on U.S. 301 in Orangeburg County made by cameras inside two patrol cruisers.
On those tapes, Williams is seen pulling over a car with three people inside that was driven by Travis Johnson, according to a sworn statement by SLED agent Matt Ford.
Williams ordered a passenger out of the car and the man dropped what appeared to be some cocaine and ran into the woods, Ford said.
While Williams chased the passenger, another trooper backing Williams up handcuffed Johnson and another man, according to the statement.
Williams couldn't catch the man who fled and returned to the car, Ford said.
Williams then hit Johnson in the chest with his forearm and struck the other man with his fist before slapping him in the face several times, according to the statement.
Johnson and the other man were then taken out of handcuffs and allowed to leave with a warning, Ford said.
Williams was charged with aggravated assault because he struck the men while they were handcuffed and did it with "the purposeful infliction of shame and disgrace," according to the statement.
The officer providing backup for the stop, senior Trooper R.V. Giddens, has been suspended without pay since Aug. 1, according to the Public Safety Department. He has not been charged, SLED said.
