Details emerge on Richmond County deputy’s S.C. arrest

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Richmond County deputy was arrested across the state line in South Carolina after he got drunk, argued with his girlfriend, became suicidal and got combative with Aiken County officers, according to authorities.

He was off duty at the time of his arrest.

The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office was notified around 5:20 a.m. Sunday of a suicidal person in the 300 block of Aiken Road in Graniteville.

A woman told arriving officers that her daughter’s boyfriend, Richmond County Deputy Lamar Washington, was threatening to kill himself, according to authorities.

Deputies made contact with Washington, whom they described as “in a state of extremely gross intoxication.”

Deputies said he’d broken out a window in a dwelling he shared with the girlfriend and then said he “wanted to blow his brains out,” citing stress at work.

Deputies said the girlfriend told them the two argued while they were drinking in Augusta and that when they arrived home, there was a physical altercation between the suspect and several other parties.

Ultimately, the suspect was placed in the back of a patrol vehicle to prevent further altercations. Once there, he banged his head against the partition and tried to kick out the window, according to deputies.

The suspect was placed under arrest due to disorderly conduct, deputies reported, but he resisted being handcuffed until deputies could overpower him, authorities reported.

He was charged with the misdemeanors of disorderly conduct, simple assault and resisting or interfering with a police officer, according to authorities.

Washington began his employment with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in May 2018 as a jailer and was promoted to road patrol in April 2019.

Washington is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation.

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