Man who attacked good Samaritans with tire iron & led chase punished, SC cops say

A South Carolina man who attacked good Samaritans trying to help him following a car crash then became the subject of a manhunt is going to federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Earlier this month, 31-year-old Richland County resident Jacob Lloyd Lower was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

The charge is connected to an April 2022 incident.

At about 6 a.m. on April 25, 2022, officers with Irmo Police Department responded to a single-vehicle collision, according to the release. On the way, officers learned that the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Lower, was physically assaulting those who stopped to help him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Lower was using a tire iron to attack the good Samaritans that had stopped to help, and he was attempting to steal their vehicles, police said in 2022.

When law enforcement arrived, a witness told the officers that Lower, who was wearing a bloody white shirt, ran into the woods, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in the release. Officers began searching a wooded area between Broad River Road and I-26, police said.

As officers searched, they learned that Lower attempted to steal a truck in a nearby parking lot but was unsuccessful and continued to run, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A Richland County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit arrived on scene and led law enforcement to an area in the woods where they found a white shirt with blood on it, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in the release. Lower was located nearby and arrested, according to the release. He was hiding in the woods behind Starbucks and Circle K on Broad River Road, police said.

During his arrest, Lower was found with several types of drugs and a .22 caliber pistol along with 300 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lower is prohibited from possessing a firearm and/or ammunition based upon convictions for criminal conspiracy, second-degree burglary, grand larceny and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in the release.

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Lower to 120 months in prison, to be followed by a 3-year term of court-ordered supervision, according to the release. There is no parole in the federal system. In addition to Irmo police, this case was investigated by the ATF and Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon prosecuted the case.

Public defender Hope Demer was listed as Lower’s attorney defending him against the state charges from the April 2022 arrest, Richland County court records show.

When he was taken into custody, police said that Lower was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where he was charged with:

• Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature
• Carjacking
• Possession of a controlled substance (Xanax)
• Possession of a controlled substance (Buprenorphine)
• Possession of a controlled substance (Fentanyl)
• Possession with intent to distribute LSD
• Possession of a firearm by persons unlawful
• Possession of a firearm during commission of a violent crime
• Assault by bodily fluid (two counts)
• Malicious injury to property
• Possession of burglary tools

Those charges were dismissed on May 31, 2024, according to court records. Information about why the state charges were dismissed, and if it had anything to do with the federal charges, was not available.

This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 6:16 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription