Palmetto State News

State Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the indictment of Marlboro County Sheriff Charles Lemon and former Deputy David Andrew Cook. 

The Dec. 14 announcement comes after both men were accused of being involved in a taser incident over a year ago on May 3, 2020, at the Marlboro County Detention Center, according to the Washington Examiner. 

The suspended sheriff is accused of ordering Cook to use the taser on Jarrel Lee Johnson and then unlawfully taser him two more times in an attempt to subdue Johnson within the jail. The Washington Examiner reported that the taser was used on Johnson’s chest and leg. 

“Immediately following the indictment of Lemon, Gov. Henry McMaster issued Executive Order 2021-42, suspending Lemon from office and appointing former Bennettsville Chief of Police Larry McNeil to serve as interim sheriff until Lemon is acquitted, convicted or the indictment is otherwise disposed of, or until a sheriff is elected and qualifies in the next general election,” according to a press release from the governor's office. 

The Post and Courier in 2019 published a series titled “Above the Law,” which showed one in four of South Carolina’s counties in the last decade were accused of breaking the law. 

By the end of 2019, three more were indicted and removed from service. 

“In all, 15 sheriffs since 2010 have been arrested on charges ranging from drug dealing to driving under the influence,” The Post and Courier reported.

An assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in South Carolina is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Common law misconduct of office is a misdemeanor that can lead to up to 10 years in prison. 

The Post and Courier reported that Lemon is an army veteran and was a four-year police chief in Society Hill followed by chief deputy for 12 years in Marlboro County. 

After winning reelection in November, he spoke in a news interview saying, “Certainly my track record speaks for itself, and may the work that I’ve done speak for me,” Lemon told WBTW News 13.

According to the Washington Examiner, Lemon’s replacement, McNeil, served as Bennettsville chief from 2000 to 2016, and was South Carolina Department of Social Services director of employee safety and law enforcement liaison until early 2021.