A citizen took his gun away — but he still had a hatchet and a bag full of ammo, SC cops say

Despite at least 18 warnings to "drop the hatchet," the South Carolina man refused to comply, according to the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.

That's when deputies used Tasers to subdue him, the sheriff's office said.

The incident started Monday when deputies responded to a call about a man with a "firearm pointing it at other people." But before deputies found the man, later identified as Teavy Tith, they received another call that someone took the gun away from him, police say.

That was quickly followed by yet another call reporting the man was armed with a hatchet, according to the incident report.

When the first deputy arrived, he said Tith walked in his direction while concealing a large item behind him. Aware that it could be a gun or hatchet, the deputy aimed his pistol at Tith and told him to "drop it," prompting the man to quickly turn and walk away, the report said.

The deputy followed Tith, who said he wanted "his (freaking) pistol back," according to the incident report.

According to the deputy, he asked Tith at least 18 times to "drop the hatchet" as he and other deputies followed the suspect down roads and through yards.

The man would not put down the weapon, and instead made threats to use the "hatchet to assault me while I was behind him," the deputy said, according to the report.

Deputies then used two Tasers on the 31-year-old Spartanburg man, dropping him to the ground, where they got the hatchet away from Tith despite him trying to grab at it before he was handcuffed, the incident report stated.

A search of Tith led to the discovery of "an extended pistol magazine ... with unspent rounds of ammunition, and a box of ammunition ... with numerous rounds of unspent ammunition" inside of his backpack, police reported.

After the man was restrained, the deputy said he "detected the odor of alcoholic beverage coming from Mr. Tith's person. Listening to him speak, he also had slurred speech and just rambled on," according to the incident report.

Tith was charged with public disorderly conduct and resisting arrest with a deadly weapon, according to the incident report.

Jail records show he was taken to Spartanburg County Detention Center, where he remains after his bond was set at $5,257.50 for the combined charges.