Greenville Deputy Tases Man During Scuffle; Deputy Injured

A Greenville County deputy was injured Thursday night after a scuffle with a suspect.

Around 9:45pm, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy stopped a 1981 Ford pickup truck on Heatherly Drive near Valley Street, because the license plate lamp was out.

The deputy learned that 33-year-old Larry Eugene Coleman of Greenville was driving with a suspended license, and he had an active arrest warrant for failure to appear issued by Greenville Police.

23-year-old Deputy Ryan T. Conlon came to the scene as backup.

Deputies say they asked Coleman to get out of the truck but he became verbally and physically non-compliant. Deputies say Coleman ran and hit Deputy Conlon with his body while passing him.

Deputies chased Coleman on foot, and the deputy who initiated the traffic stop tased Coleman in the lower back.  Deputies say Coleman continued to run and Deputy Conlon grabbed him from behind and both men fell to the ground.

Coleman fell on Deputy Conlon injuring the Deputy’s right shoulder.  Both Deputies tried to get control of Coleman, but Coleman threw Deputy Conlon off of him, causing Deputy Conlon to strike the ground.

Coleman was tased a second time, and Deputies were able to handcuff him.

Coleman had minor injuries during the incident, and was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital by EMS after complaining of chest pain. Coleman was treated and released from the hospital, then taken to the Greenville County Detention Center where he was charged with defective equipment, expired license plate, driving under suspension (10th offense), habitual offender (4th offense), and resisting arrest with injury.

Deputy Conlon was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital where he was treated for his shoulder injury and was released back to full duty.

Coleman is in the Detention Center on a $17,000 bond for the charges related to the incident and a “no bond” was set for his Greenville City Police Department failure to appear warrant.