SC man who shot at deputies after car chase asks for bond a second time
A man who led Richland County deputies on a high-speed chase before shooting at them was denied bond during a hearing Thursday.
Following a second request to be cut loose ahead of trial, Renaldo Tyson, 24, will remain behind bars until a jury decides his fate. The decision was made by Circuit Court Judge Christopher Taylor, who before ruling, considered remarks by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and deputies involved in the shooting.
“We’re very fortunate that we’re not here talking about deputies or a police dog who was killed,” Lott told Taylor. ”(Tyson) had a pistol he’d stolen from another vehicle and I believe he demonstrated that night that not only was he a flight risk but also a danger to the community.”
Taylor agreed, saying that he “respectfully” denies the motion for bond in light of the danger Tyson poses to the community.
In support of his appeal, Lott was joined by more than a dozen deputies, besides those who serve as courtroom bailiffs, including deputies John Walantas and Datron Washington who were both involved in the shooting last September.
“Mr. Tyson was being pulled over for speeding,” Walantas told Taylor. “He’s a grown man that made grown man decisions that night ... that had grown man repercussions. In his attempt to take my life, my co-worker’s lives and a (police) dog life, makes no sense to me.”
Tyson’s attorney, Aimee Zmroczek of the A.J.Z. Law Firm, argued her client suffers from a mental illness and thought he was going to die the night of the encounter with deputies.
“He’s got some serious mental illness that we need to address, and it’s not going to be addressed in the jail (as) they aren’t even providing counseling,” Zmroczek told Taylor. “Denying bond for somebody who has only one previous charge for possession of stolen pistol seems a little excessive.”
Lott later told reporters that claiming a mental illness is “just an excuse.”
“He made a conscious decision to have a stolen gun and a conscious decision to shoot at our deputies,” Lott said. “He’s made bad decisions in the past, and he continued to make bad decisions that night. Let’s not use that crutch that he’s got mental issues.”
What happened that night
On Sept. 30, 2025, deputies attempted to stop Tyson for speeding at North Main Street and Meridian Drive. Tyson fled, leading deputies on a high-speed chase for about seven minutes, before crashing at Monticello Road and Ridgedale Street, Lott said during a news conference last September.
When deputies attempted to approach Tyson after the crash, he began firing at deputies, striking a patrol vehicle five times, using a stolen pistol.
Four deputies, including Cpl. Chaisson Porter, John Walantas, and K9 Specialists Bryan Hodge and Datron Washington, all returned fire and struck Tyson multiple times.
Tyson survived and, following a stay in the hospital, was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and charged with four counts of attempted murder along with one count of unlawful taunting, tormenting, beating, striking of or administering drugs to a police dog; discharging a firearm into a vehicle while occupied; possession of a weapon during a violent crime; unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; possession of a stolen pistol; reckless driving; and failure to stop for blue lights and siren.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 2:56 PM.
