The U.S. Attorney’s Office has decided that an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officer did not violate an Orangeburg man’s civil rights during a 2008 traffic stop.

“I was informed that while it is the opinion the officer’s actions were aggressive, they did not believe the requisite criminal intent existed to prove that (the Orangeburg man’s) civil rights were violated,” First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said.

The investigation centered around an Oct. 18, 2008 traffic stop by Orangeburg officers. An attorney for the Orangeburg man has alleged he was treated for injuries he received while being taken into custody.



One of the man’s attorneys, Dan Luginbill, said he’d hoped the U.S. Attorney’s Office would have returned a different decision.

Luginbill said the matter will now be pursued in civil court.

“There is a civil lawsuit that is going to be filed,” the Bamberg attorney said. “It has not been filed yet. It will be filed in the next few weeks.”

The case was initially presented to the Solicitor’s Office for review. But at the request of Pascoe’s office on Jan. 27, it was turned over to federal investigators.

“I sent the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office because they have a task force that deals with allegations of excessive police force,” Pascoe said. “They took a serious and thorough look at these allegations.”

Pascoe said the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division were also involved in the investigation.

The ODPS officer was suspended from police duties after the allegations surfaced a year ago. ODPS officials say the officer has returned to active duty.

During the incident, police followed a driver suspected of drunk driving for about a mile, ending what appeared to be a slow-speed pursuit that began on Magnolia Street and ended on Stilton Road, according to an ODPS incident report.

The 53-year-old Orangeburg man’s attorney said that, as a result of the stop, the man was admitted to the Regional Medical Center.

“He cracked a rib, he had a pretty good knot on his head,” Luginbill said. “He’s recovered since then.”

Attorney Clyde C. Dean, who is representing the man with Luginbill, said the man approached his office a few days after the incident to look into possible civil rights violations.

ODPS Chief Wendell Davis declined to comment on the investigation after the incident, saying it is a personnel matter. Davis did say, however that the investigation centered on “the amount of force used” during the traffic stop.

Video from an in-car camera in one of four ODPS units that followed the Orangeburg man’s car shows the officers converging on the vehicle.

The driver exits the vehicle and says, “I’m sorry.” He is then abruptly taken to the ground. With the man on the ground, the officer repeatedly asks him if he has AIDS.

Davis said the findings by the U.S. Attorney’s Office supported the conclusions of an internal investigation.

“We’re just ready to move forward,” he said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not return calls Thursday.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516.

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