No criminal charges for deputy who shot Bluffton man in May domestic violence incident
A Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputy won’t face criminal charges for shooting a Bluffton man who police said tried to strike the officer with a metal pipe in May.
“After a thorough review, there is no evidence to substantiate any General Sessions charges against” Cpl. David Swinehamer, Deputy Solicitor Sean Thornton with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office wrote.
The letter was sent on Oct. 29 to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, which is still investigating the police shooting at the Shady Glen Mobile Home Park near Old Town Bluffton on May 10.
Swinehamer arrived at the mobile home park after Sheriff’s Office dispatchers received five calls from three callers after 3:30 a.m. that a man was attempting to hurt his family and breaking things in his home, according to a police report.
Dispatchers told Swinehamer the man had a bat or stick.
A warrant released by SLED stated that the man, later identified as 45-year-old Jose Robles, approached Swinehamer “while offering to strike him with [a] metal pipe.”
Swinehamer then shot Robles, who was taken to Memorial Health Medical Center in Savannah with serious injuries.
Robles was released from the hospital more than three weeks later and charged with domestic violence in the second degree and assault and battery in the first degree, according to warrants.
The documents allege that Robles’ longtime girlfriend was “found to have been slapped, bitten, chased with a metal pipe by [Robles] in the presence of their minor child.”
The Sheriff’s Office took Swinehamer off active duty after the shooting. But the agency determined that he acted within internal policy and sent him back to work, according to Maj. Bob Bromage on June 3.
Police prosecution
In cases where a police officer shoots someone, SLED investigates and then sends its findings to the county’s solicitor’s office. That office then issues a legal opinion if an officer could be convicted by a jury beyond “a reasonable doubt” on potential criminal charges, according to Jeff Kidd, spokesperson for the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Swinehamer’s shooting did not meet that standard, he said.
The one page, four-sentence letter is all that will be released from the Solicitor’s Office on the legal reasoning not to charge the deputy.
The courts have given broad leeway to on-duty officers using deadly force to protect their own life or another person’s life, according to two Supreme Court rulings that set standards for charges.
Usually, SLED’s comprehensive investigative file on the shooting would be available after the Solicitor’s Office decides on the case. However, SLED was also asked to investigate the domestic violence and assault and battery charges against Robles in addition to his shooting, according to Tommy Crosby, SLED spokesperson.
