South Carolina deputy charged with killing unarmed man and letting police dog maul innocent person

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A deputy in South Carolina has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault after he fatally shot an unarmed suspect five times and his 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 did not indicate if 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 was not involved in the chase and did not know Sellers, agents said.

While the dog attacked the homeowner, Sellers shot Rankin five times as he lay on a couch, according to the sworn statement.

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Sellers failed to give the dog the right commands to stop attacking, and the homeowner was mauled for more than a minute. 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 attack and faces up to 20 years if convicted.

Sellers worked with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office for less than two years before he was fired, according to his training records.