SLED, prosecutor clear Horry County officer who shot shoplifting suspect

A State Law Enforcement Division investigation cleared an Horry County police officer in the November shooting of a shoplifting suspect who tried to drive away while another officer clung to her moving SUV, according to public records released Monday.

Lance Cpl. Crystal Buckingham shot Laquandra Borden of Sumter twice Nov. 10 when Borden tried to speed off with HCPD officer Floyd Truss stuck between the Jeep that Borden was driving and the vehicle’s open door, according to the final SLED report. Police dash cam video captured the incident, which took place at the Wal-Mart at U.S. 17 Bypass and S.C. 544.

“She was acting in the interest of the other officer,” said Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, whose office reviewed SLED’s findings. “The standard is basically what is reasonable under the circumstances. … In this case, certainly we don’t think there would be any way to prosecute the officer. It appears she was acting reasonable, with her partner being hung up in the car and her trying to get that car to stop. Certainly a life-threatening type [of] situation. It really wasn’t a hard call.”

On the day of the shooting, Truss and his training officer, Buckingham, responded to the Wal-Mart around 10:30 a.m. and spoke with a store employee who identified Borden and Chasity Stokes as shoplifting suspects, according to public records.

With the patrol car parked in front of the Jeep, Borden and Stokes began talking with police in the parking lot.

Truss told investigators he heard Borden say she was having trouble breathing and needed an inhaler from the vehicle, according to the SLED report. He stayed with her while she searched the vehicle.

Borden told him she needed to sit in the driver’s seat to look in the arm rest, but she cranked the vehicle and Truss began struggling with her, the SLED report stated. The Jeep surged forward into Buckingham’s patrol car, then Borden shifted it into reverse.

Buckingham told SLED agents that Truss seemed to be “stuck in the car” and she feared for his life so she fired at Borden, striking the suspect’s left side.

Despite being wounded, Borden backed into a concrete pole, then led police on a 10-mile chase that ended near 38th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, the SLED report said. Truss scraped his arms and shins. Buckingham suffered cuts on her left forearm and thumb as well as an abrasion on her left knee and a contusion on her right hand.

When interviewed by SLED agents at Grand Strand Medical Center, Borden told investigators she had tried to escape because she knew she had outstanding shoplifting warrants and didn’t want to go to jail, according to the SLED report. She told the investigators she’d called her mother and sister during the chase and worried about stopping because she’d been shot by the police.

Borden was treated at the hospital and taken to J. Reuben Long Detention Center where she was booked on charges of hit and run, criminal conspiracy, assault of a high and aggravated nature, first-degree assault and battery, three shoplifting offenses and two property crimes, according to jail records. She was released Nov. 23.

Borden, who turned 26 in January, could not be reached for comment Monday.

The SLED investigation was requested by Horry County Police Chief Saundra Rhodes. She could not be reached on Monday.

Buckingham’s attorney, Fran Humphries, said his client may have saved the life of her fellow officer as well as her own.

“Crystal was placed in a very hazardous position,” he said. “She reacted very quickly and under the circumstances very appropriately. … She needs to be commended for her quick and decisive action.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 6:55 PM with the headline "SLED, prosecutor clear Horry County officer who shot shoplifting suspect."