SLED: Midlands SC deputy charged after breaking man’s jaw, knocking him out in arrest
A man had to have teeth removed after a former Kershaw County deputy used “an unreasonable amount of force” during an arrest, state police said in a report.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division charged former Kershaw Deputy Johnathan Lewis Goldsmith with second degree assault and battery and misconduct in office following an investigation into an arrest Goldsmith made on Oct. 15, 2020.
At about 11 p.m. on Oct. 15, Goldsmith responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle in a church parking lot, according to a November statement by the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office. As Goldsmith tried to detain the man by putting him in handcuffs, the man began resisting and pulling away, the sheriff’s office said.
Goldmsith punched the person he was arresting in the head, abdomen and neck, according to warrants. After punching the man, Goldsmith used his stun gun and shocked the man in the neck area “multiple times.” He put the man into the back of the patrol car and closed the door on the man’s legs several times. Goldsmith knocked the man out in the assault, the warrants said.
“What shocked me even more was that my deputy did not immediately render aid or call for medical assistance,” Kershaw Sheriff Lee Boan said in November.
The man suffered a broken jaw and injuries to his neck, and he had to have several teeth removed, agents said.
The assault was recorded on Goldsmith’s police body camera, according to the warrants. Witnesses also told agents that they saw the assault.
Agents jailed Goldsmith in the Kershaw County Detention Center, where he remained Wednesday afternoon awaiting a bond hearing.
Second degree assault and battery is a misdemeanor punishable with up to three years in prison. The misconduct in office charge against Goldsmith is the lesser of two similar offenses in the South Carolina code of laws and is punishable with up to one year in prison.
Goldsmith was a “decorated” Kershaw County deputy, The State reported in November. In December 2019, Goldsmith was named the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Foundation Deputy of the Year, the Chronicle-Independent reported.
Court records show that the man Goldsmith is accused of assaulting was charged with resisting arrest, possession of the drug MDMA, public disorderly conduct and having an open alcohol container in his car. Those charges are pending.