A West Columbia man came back to the scene of a weekend hit-and-run he’s accused of causing and rammed a sheriff’s deputy’s patrol vehicle while the deputy was still sitting inside it, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said. The deputy had returned to the 3900 block of Augusta Road on Monday to investigate the original crash, which had damaged a building over the weekend. Authorities say 55-year-old John Christopher Graham pulled up around 11:30 a.m. and slammed into the patrol car.
Graham did not stay at the scene the second time, either. When another deputy tried to pull him over, he refused to stop and took off, prompting a brief chase, authorities say. He got out and ran once he finally stopped, but deputies caught up with him soon after.
The deputy who was inside the rammed patrol vehicle was taken to a hospital for evaluation, a sheriff’s department spokesperson said. There were no signs of serious injury, according to WLTX. Graham was booked into the Lexington County Detention Center, and charges against him are still pending.
The sheriff’s department claimed Graham is the same person responsible for the weekend hit-and-run that prompted deputies to respond in the first place. Inexplicably, instead of avoiding the crime scene, Graham returned and committed several more infractions. So, instead of a case of property damage, this turned into a pursuit and a stack of pending charges.
What the Sheriff’s Department Says Happened
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According to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy was working the 3900 block of Augusta Road on Monday, investigating a hit-and-run from the weekend that had damaged a building there. Graham returned to that scene around 11:30 a.m. and rammed the deputy’s patrol vehicle while he was inside it. The department identified him as the driver and, separately, as the suspect in the original weekend crash.
Another deputy then tried to stop Graham, who drove off instead of pulling over, WIS reported. The move set off a brief pursuit through the area. Graham eventually stopped, got out, and ran before deputies caught and arrested him, then booked him into the county detention center.
Where the Case Stands Now
Formal charges against Graham remained pending, the sheriff’s department said. He stayed at the Lexington County Detention Center following his arrest. Investigators have now connected him to two separate events, which are the weekend hit-and-run that damaged the Augusta Road building and Monday’s ramming of the occupied patrol car.
The deputy who was hit avoided serious injury, according to the sheriff’s department, and was released after a hospital evaluation. It isn’t clear why a hit-and-run suspect would return to the one spot certain to still be full of deputies. Whatever the reason, that return trip is what landed Graham in custody.