Lexington County man charged with attempted murder

A Lexington County Man has been charged with attempted murder following an incident where a hospital public safety officer was struck by a vehicle.

The S.C. State Law Enforcement Division said Wednesday that Stephen Johnson Craft II, 38, was charged with the felony, which carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison if there is a conviction.

Craft is accused of striking the officer while trying to flee him in the Lexington County Medical Center parking lot on April 27.

Craft was arrested on Beckham Road after a chase, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

He was driving a vehicle matching the description of one tied to an officer-involved shooting on hospital grounds earlier in the day, according to the sheriff’s department.

The shooting happened after a confrontation between a hospital police officer and a driver, said SLED.

The hospital officer fired at a man who then hit the officer with a car and fled from the emergency room side of the hospital, authorities said. The motorist was not wounded.

Hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Wilson said the officer was notified there were outstanding warrants on the man and approached him as he sat behind the wheel of a car. Craft was wanted on a grand larceny charge from an incident earlier this month, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The man drove off, striking the hospital officer, who fired shots, said Wilson, who declined to identify the officer. He was treated and released at the hospital, she said.