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Former BPD lieutenant Ernest Ray Lewis was charged with assault & battery, third degree.
A former Barnwell Police Department (BPD) lieutenant has been charged with assault and battery for using unlawful force during an arrest.
Ernest Ray Lewis, 46, of Olar, was charged on October 17, 2023 by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) with assault and battery, third degree.
This charge stemmed from a September 24 incident in Barnwell County where Lewis was attempting to make an arrest. The individual being arrested refused to get into the patrol unit, and Lewis responded with apparent force.
This action was later investigated by SLED and resulted in Lewis’ arrest. As far as assisting with the call, BCSO and the S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP) were on scene.
“The defendant [Lewis] assaulted the victim by striking him across the head using an open hand and drive stunning him with his department issued taser in the abdomen and thigh,” states the arrest warrant.
In a letter of termination from interim BPD Chief Robert Miller, Lewis “assaulted the suspect in the head area with an open hand (slap). Lt. Lewis also drive stunned the suspect in the leg and abdomen while he was not physically resisting.”
Lewis’ employment with the City of Barnwell was terminated on October 5, 2023. In the letter of termination, Chief Miller said, “These actions are in direct violation of the City of Barnwell police code of conduct policy.”
BPD’s conduct policy details how officers can use conducted energy weapons (CEW).
“Once the suspect has ceased to resist or has been restrained, the additional use of the CEW is not justified,” states the policy.
The policy also details the prohibited use of a CEW on fleeing or resisting subjects unless they post an immediate danger to the officer or others, and how CEWs cannot be used to force compliance from a suspect who is already resisting.
Lewis is also a former deputy with the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). He was terminated in April 2021, according to a letter of termination which does not indicate reasoning as to why Lewis was fired.
Lewis was subsequently booked at the Barnwell County Detention Center (BCDC) for the above charge and the case will be prosecuted by the second circuit solicitor’s office. A $1,087.50 personal recognizance bond was granted by Williston magistrate Judge Robert Cooper on the date of arrest.
Lewis is set to appear in court on December 12, according to the S.C. Courts website.
