Solicitor: Man shot by trooper used stun gun in fatal fight

COLUMBIA (AP) - The South Carolina man killed by a state trooper last week after running away from a traffic stop took control of the officer's stun gun before the fatal shot, prosecutors said.

The trooper shot Tristan Vereen once in the chest during a fight between both men, 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said in a news conference Thursday.

The South Carolina Public Safety Department has identified the trooper as W.B. Benton. The agency previously said Benton was trying to pull Vereen over for an equipment violation Saturday afternoon on state Highway 905 near Loris. The 33-year-old Vereen, who was African American, died later at a nearby hospital, according to the Horry County Coroner's Office.

Richardson gave reporters details from two videos capturing parts of the incident - Benton's dashboard camera and surveillance footage from a nearby property - but said he was not releasing them to the public yet to avoid influencing any testimony the trooper could provide to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which is leading the investigation.

Vereen was driving a car with a visibly cracked windshield, Richardson said. Video shows Vereen and the trooper driving around in circles, with Vereen saying "I'm not going to jail" and Benton responding "You're not going to jail. Just pull over," the solicitor recounted. Authorities had said Vereen then crashed his vehicle into a utility building and started running.

Benton then pursued Vereen and deployed a Taser, Richardson said. The two proceeded to wrestle, with the trooper dropping the stun gun at one point. Vereen bit the trooper and used the dropped Taser on Benton several times before Benton shot him, the solicitor added, referencing photos of stings on the trooper's neck and bite marks.

The trooper was not wearing a body camera, Richardson said, noting that some but not all state troopers have the equipment. Richardson said he had already shown the footage to Vereen's family on Thursday in an effort to provide transparency and curb misinformation as the investigation into whether Benton was justified in drawing his gun could take weeks or longer.

"Obviously, we knew they were going to be upset. You can't lose a family member and not. But we wanted, at least, for them to be able to see what we were seeing," Richardson said.

Steve Schmutz, a lawyer for the family, said it was unusual for law enforcement to share information that quickly, according to news outlets: "I'm going to take that as a sign they're going to do the right thing throughout this case," Schmutz said.

Vereen's family members and friends held a news conference earlier Thursday to seek answers regarding his death, outlets reported.

"His kids will grow up without him, all because he had a cracked windshield," said Vereen's sister Marion. "There's no justice in that."

Benton had surgery for his injuries on Tuesday and has been released from the hospital, said state Public Safety Department spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli.

Court records show a man named Teko Washington filed a federal lawsuit against Benton in 2016, alleging the trooper had used excessive force during a 2013 traffic stop in Florence that led to back and wrist injuries.

In a complaint, Washington's attorneys said he was pulled over for speeding and started running on foot because he had a marijuana cigarette in his pocket. Benton proceeded to use a Taser on him as he tried to scale a fence; Washington fell off the fence onto his neck and was then mocked and accused by Benton of faking his injuries, he alleged.

That lawsuit was dismissed about a year later.

The Horry County shooting marks the 28th police shooting in South Carolina this year.