ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A former law enforcement officer in Orangeburg County is facing new criminal charges, this time involving an assault.
An incident report and warrant from the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office states Lacra Sharod Jenkins, 46, is charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. Jenkins is the former police chief of the town of Springfield in Orangeburg County.
Deputies say the charges stem from an incident involving his 18-year-old daughter.
Just past midnight on July 12, 2024, Orangeburg County deputies responded to a call at a home on Prince Street in Eutawville in reference to a father allegedly assaulting his juvenile daughter. Deputies made contact with the daughter and her mother in front of the home when they got there. The mother told deputies the daughter had been involved in an argument with her father, Jenkins, and that the argument escalated and Jenkins allegedly slammed the girl on a couch before choking the girl with both hands. The victim's mother and Jenkins' mother intervened, and were able to separate the father and daughter.
The daughter told deputies she "never lost consciousness but did have difficulty breathing" and that Jenkins "choked her for approximately ten seconds" before he was pulled off of her.
Deputies then talked to Jenkins, who was inside the home with his mother. According to the report, Jenkins told deputies he and his daughter were having a heated discussion about her recent behavior when she "began disrespecting him," eventually striking him in the face, across the bridge of his nose. At this point, he told deputies, Jenkins said he restrained his daughter by grabbing her shoulders and pinning her to the back of a couch. Jenkins said at no time did he choke or attempt to choke the girl.
One of the responding deputies wrote in the incident report they "did not observe definitive physical evidence" corroborating the mother and the daughter's account but "did observe a faint red mark on the girl's chest below her right collarbone, near her clavicle notch" and photos were taken of the mark at that time.
The daughter, mother, and Jenkins' mother completed written witness statements while deputies were at the scene. Jenkins did not.
On Tuesday, September 17, OCSO issued the warrant for Jenkins, based on witness statements and video footage provided to investigators.
Jenkins was the former police chief of Springfield but was federally indicted in 2019 on a conspiracy case involving drugs and fraudulent Visas that led to charges against multiple South Carolina law enforcement officials. He ultimately entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to five years in prison.