COLUMBIA, SC — A South Carolina officer has been charged with manslaughter and assault after he shot an unarmed suspect five times and his police dog attacked another innocent person, authorities said.
State troopers on Wednesday arrested former Florence County Trooper Treyvon Jonathan Sellers, who was on leave following the May 26 shooting and was fired in July after an arrest in an unrelated domestic violence case.
Sellers was awaiting a bond hearing Thursday in Florence County Jail. Jail records did not indicate whether he had an attorney.
Sellers was pursuing 43-year-old William Dwayne Rankin when Rankin crashed into a tree and entered a nearby home in the Florence neighborhood, the State Law Enforcement Division said in an affidavit.
Sellers entered through the back door with their police dog, which was not on a leash, and did not identify themselves, state troopers said.
He then ordered the dog to attack without knowing who was inside. The dog bit the homeowner, who was not involved in the chase and did not know Sellers, officers said.
As the dog attacked the homeowner, Sellers shot Rankin five times as he lay on a couch, the affidavit said.
Sellers failed to give the dog proper commands to stop attacking, and the homeowner was beaten for more than a minute, suffering permanent injuries to his left arm and shoulder, state troopers said.
Sellers, 29, was charged with second-degree murder in Rankin’s case and faces two to 30 years in prison if convicted. He was also charged with aggravated assault in the dog attack and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Sellers’ educational records show he worked for the Florence County Sheriff’s Office for less than two years before being fired.