Columbia woman said she was sexually assaulted by officer while in custody. She’s now suing
A woman is suing the City of Columbia, the Columbia Police Department and a former police officer after she said she was sexually assaulted while being transported to jail.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, Taylor Ishmal alleges the city, police department and former officer Caleb Hickmon-Payne are responsible for gross negligence and recklessness, violation of due process under the 14th Amendment, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, after she was sexually assaulted by Hickmon-Payne during an arrest on Jan. 31.
Ishmal, who’s being represented by the Shealey Law Firm, recounted her experience with Hickmon-Payne before reporters Thursday.
“I’m disgusted,” Ishmal said. “I’m mortified. Someone who was sworn to protect this community ... abused his authority to commit a nasty act.”
Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook announced Wednesday that Hickmon-Payne was arrested and charged with second degree assault and battery and misconduct in office, after the former officer assaulted Ishmal and propositioned her for sex while transporting her to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
“She spent a lot of time in the car with [Hickmon-Payne] being harassed,” Attorney Elizabeth Dalzell told reporters. “This is every woman’s worst nightmare. This was a nigthmare for Taylor that could have been avoided because there were several failures in the system that lead to this horrific event.”
Following a traffic stop by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department on Jan. 31, it was discovered that Ishmal, who was a passenger in the car, had a Columbia Police Department bench warrant. Deputies alerted CPD, and Hickmon-Payne responded, taking Ishmal into custody, Holbrook told reporters Wednesday.
The bench warrant, however, which involved a dispute between the woman and a family member, was vacated in February 2024, according to her attorneys and court records.
“First and foremost, there was a systemic failure in the internal process with the Columbia Police Department for failing to take this warrant out of the system,” Attorney Brian Shealey said. “She should have never been taken to jail that night.”
Indeed, court records show that a 2023 warrant against Ishmal, issued by Judge Robert Hood, had been vacated on Feb. 22, 2024.
Still, after the traffic stop, Hickmon-Payne returned to police headquarters to retrieve and complete paperwork relating to the woman’s warrant, Holbrook said.
Hickmon-Payne then began his trip to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, with Ishmal in tow.
But Hickmon-Payne didn’t take the woman straight to jail and failed to report his beginning and ending mileage during the transport, Holbrook said. What should’ve been a 19-minute trip from police headquarters to the jail took Hickmon-Payne 41 minutes. In addition, he deactivated his body-worn and in-car cameras during the trip, according to Holbrook.
The delayed trip resulted from Hickmon-Payne taking Ishmal to a gas station, where “he purchased snacks used to entice the detained woman in return for sexual favors,” attorneys for Ishmal said.
“He eventually drove her to a dark, secluded parking lot off of Bluff Road and sexually assaulted her while she was handcuffed,” Dalzell said.
Shealey called on the public to urge state lawmakers to pass a law forbidding officers from having the ability to turn off their body cameras while one duty.
“There’s been a lot of legislation throughout recent years about making sure all [law enforcement] agencies are well funded to have body worn cameras, but it doesn’t do any good if [officers] can just turn them off,” Shealey said.
“There’s been failed ... attempts for real measures, real laws to ... make turning body-worn cameras off an unlawful action,” Shealey said.
Having the inability to disengage body cameras “helps good cops ... protects good officers from false accusations ... and it also protects citizens,” Shealey said.
On Feb. 5, Ishmal reported to officers that Hickmon-Payne had assaulted and propositioned her for a sex act on the night of Jan. 31.
On Feb. 6, she provided officers with a detailed account of her encounter with Hickmon-Payne, leading Holbrook to suspend the officer the same day without pay.
On Feb. 7, CPD internal affairs “began reviewing dispatch records, radio transmissions, body-worn and in car cameras and vehicle GPS locator equipment,” Holbrook said, leading to Hickmon-Payne being fired, as SLED conducted an independent investigation.
SLED ultimately presented its findings to the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, resulting in the charges against Hickmon-Payne, Holbrook said. The former officer was arrested on Wednesday, March 12.
The second degree assault charge is a “result of the unlawful, inappropriate touching of a female prisoner without her consent while being transported to the jail and in our custody,” Holbrook told reporters.
The misconduct in office charge arises from Hickmon-Payne’s comments and proposition for sex toward a female prisoner while in his official capacity as a sworn officer, Holbrook said.
Ishmal, who spent a night in jail during her 1-year-old son’s birthday, also said she has a 2-year-old daughter, who she doesn’t want to grow up thinking that what Hickmon-Payne did to Ishmal “is OK or acceptable.”
”Today, I stand for myself, my daughter, and any other woman that this has happened to,” Ishmal said. “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared. Talk. Somebody’s going to believe you, somebody’s going to listen. And I just pray that in this situation, Mr. Payne is held to the fullest extent [of the law] for the things that he has done.”
This story has been updated with details from a Thursday press conference.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM.
