Deputy pulls gun on wrong man and books him into SC jail for two nights, lawsuit says
A man spent two nights in a South Carolina jail after having a gun pulled on him by a deputy he says misidentified and wrongly arrested him, according to a federal lawsuit.
When Maurice Grant and his cousin got a flat tire while driving along Interstate 526 near Charleston in January 2020, a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled them over as the pair tried to find a safe spot to stop, a complaint filed Oct. 23 says.
After Cpl. Steven Worley demanded to see their identification and car registration, Worley drew his gun and pointed it at Grant as other officers showed up, according to the complaint.
A “scared, confused and upset” Grant had no idea why he was under arrest, the complaint says.
Worley told him there was a warrant out for his arrest in connection with evading arrest in October 2019 — but Grant wasn’t the actual man deputies were searching for, according to the complaint.
The arrest warrant was meant for another man with the same name, the complaint says.
Worley went on to search and detain Grant before taking him to the Berkeley County Detention Center, where he was booked for two nights, the complaint says.
For over three years, Grant faced criminal charges until the case was dismissed in February, according to the complaint. Berkeley County court records show charges of failure to stop for a blue light filed against Grant were dismissed Feb. 24.
Now Grant, of Charleston County, is suing the sheriff’s office and Worley, accusing the officer of assault and battery and false arrest and false imprisonment, the complaint shows.
Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jeremy Baker told McClatchy News in a statement on Oct. 25 that the office is unable to comment on the lawsuit, as the department has not yet seen it or been served with it.
“We have only been notified via the media of this lawsuit,” Baker said.
Attorney Elizabeth Dalzell, of Shealey Law Firm, LLC in Columbia, who is representing Grant, told McClatchy News in a statement on Oct. 25 that “Grant’s life was seriously impacted by this wrongful arrest.”
“We want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she said.
Seeking ‘justice’
According to the lawsuit, the sheriff’s office had “ample evidence” that Grant wasn’t the suspect accused of evading arrest in October 2019.
The other man they meant to arrest, with the same name as Grant’s, was described as “slender,” 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 190 pounds in his arrest records, the complaint says.
Meanwhile, Grant is 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs about 280 pounds, the complaint notes.
The wrongful arrest resulted in “permanent damage to his reputation” and affected Grant’s career, including how the event resulted in lost wages and job opportunities, according to the complaint.
He also experienced a “loss of his physical liberty” in addition to “physical pain and suffering, embarrassment, and emotional trauma and suffering,” the complaint says.
The sheriff’s office and Worley are accused of negligence by detaining Grant, according to the complaint, which further accuses the sheriff’s office of improperly supervising and training its deputies.
“Mr. Grant simply wants justice to be served — he wants to be compensated for what he went through and he wants to see changes within the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office that will help ensure that this doesn’t happen again,” Dalzell said.
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