Ex-Deputy, Sheriff in South Carolina Face Second Lawsuit Over Excessive Force
A sheriff and a fired deputy in South Carolina are facing a second lawsuit over the officer’s conduct during an arrest.
The lawsuit said ex-Kershaw County deputy Johnathan Goldsmith threw the man against a car and then on the ground after he was handcuffed and hit him until a state trooper at the scene broke up the confrontation in November 2019.
The man was stopped at a traffic checkpoint when he was cuffed, according to the lawsuit obtained by WIS-TV.
The man is also suing Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan saying he knew Goldsmith had problems before he was hired and didn’t properly supervise the officer.
Goldsmith was fired in November 2020 and arrested three months later after investigators said he repeatedly hit a man he was trying to arrest while he was on the ground, later shocking him, using pepper spray, and closing the patrol car door on his leg. The encounter was captured on Goldsmith’s body camera, WIS-TV said.
Goldsmith said he saw an empty holster in the man’s car and feared he might have a gun.
Goldsmith is charged with misconduct in office and second-degree assault. His lawyer didn’t return messages from the TV station.
Boan was also named in the first lawsuit.