Columbia, S.C. — A deputy in South Carolina has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault after he shot an unarmed suspect five times, killing him, and the deputy’s police dog mauled a different, innocent person, authorities said.
State agents arrested former Florence County deputy Treyvon Jonathan Sellers on Wednesday. He was on leave after the May 26 shooting and was fired in July after an arrest in an unrelated domestic violence case.
Sellers was awaiting a bond hearing at the Florence County jail on Thursday. Jail records didn’t indicate whether he had a lawyer.
Sellers was chasing 43-year-old William Dwayne Rankin when Rankin crashed into a tree and ran into a nearby home near Florence, the State Law Enforcement Division said in a sworn statement.
Sellers went into the home through the back door with his police dog, which was not on a leash, and didn’t announce who he was, state agents said.
He then ordered the dog to attack without knowing who was inside. The dog bit the owner of the home, who wasn’t involved in the chase and didn’t know Sellers, agents said. CBS Florence, S.C. affiliate WBTW-TV identified the homeowner as Johnny Cooper.
While the dog attacked the homeowner, Sellers shot Rankin five times as he lay on a couch, according to the sworn statement.
Sellers failed to give the dog the right commands to stop attacking and the homeowner was mauled for approximately 87 seconds, the statement said, according to WBTW. He suffered permanent injuries to his left arm and shoulder, state agents said.
Sellers, 29, was charged with voluntary manslaughter in Rankin’s death and faces two to 30 years in prison if convicted. He was also charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in the dog’s attack and faces up to 20 years if convicted.
WBTW quotes Florence County Sheriff TJ Joye as saying in a statement Wednesday that he’s “personally met with the families of Mr. Rankin and Mr. Cooper where I have been as candid and transparent as I know how, and I have expressed my deep regret and sorrow over this incident. This incident is not indicative of our values, our mission or our training.”
