SC sheriff’s stakeout nabs heavily-armed man who allegedly fired gun out car window
A man armed with an arsenal of weapons and ammunition was arrested Thursday on suspicion of discharging firearms while driving through rural Richland County with an open container of alcohol, the sheriff’s department said.
Elliot Collier, 47, was charged with aggravated breach of peace, a misdemeanor, after deputies pulled him over at about 8:30 p.m. upon hearing multiple shots fired in the area. He was released on bond after being processed at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Collier, who was driving a blue 2023 Hyundai Venue, was found to have eight firearms, 1,500 rounds of ammunition of varying calibers and several spent shell casings in his vehicle, the sheriff’s department said.
A police report notes that an open container of alcohol was also found in Collier’s vehicle, but for reasons that are unclear he was not charged with any alcohol-related offense.
A spokeswoman for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said charging decisions were made at the discretion of arresting deputies.
Prior to Collier’s arrest, sheriff’s deputies had received multiple reports of shots fired in the area of Vanboklen Road between Main Street and McCords Ferry Road, but had been unable to locate the shooter, according to an incident report.
On Thursday night, multiple deputies were stationed in the area, which is located in the town of Eastover, to sit and listen for shots.
At about 8:35 p.m., one of the deputies heard shots fired toward the Main Street side of Vanboklen Road, according to the report.
After hearing two more bursts of shots about a minute apart, the deputy spotted the headlights of a small blue vehicle coming down the road and began to pursue it, the report states.
When the deputy activated his emergency blue lights, the driver pulled over in a traffic circle at Vanboklen and McCords Ferry roads, according to the report.
Upon approaching the vehicle, deputies could see several open boxes of ammunition in the center console and what appeared to be “gun boxes” in the passenger compartment, the report states.
The driver, identified as Collier, was placed under arrest without incident. He consented to a search of his vehicle, which revealed eight handguns, approximately 1,500 rounds of ammunition and an open “adult beverage,” according to the incident report.
Both of the car’s front doors had marks on them consistent with a bullet grazing the top of the door, and the driver’s side door contained a dark powdery substance that smelled like gunpowder, the report said.