Hemingway Cop Charged With Shooting Suspect After Pursuit Was Previously Fired By Two Agencies

Georgetown, SC – A judge in Georgetown County set bond at $150,000 on Thursday as more details were released about the shooting on Sunday morning that led to voluntary manslaughter charges for Hemingway Police Officer Cassandra Dollard.

The incident began shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 6 in Williamsburg County when Officer Dollard tried to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by 46-year-old Robert “Junior” Langley, WTGS reported.

An arrest warrant from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said that Langley ran a stop sign and then failed to stop for the officer, the Charlotte Observer reported.

That move sparked a chase that dashcam video showed reached a maximum speed of 127 mph, WCSC reported.

The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said that Officer Dollard pursued Langley from Williamsburg County into Georgetown County, eight miles outside of her jurisdiction in Hemingway.

Langley eventually crashed his vehicle into a ditch near Schoolhouse and Choppee Roads in the Pleasant Hill area, WGTS reported.

SLED agents said Langley was trying to get out of his wrecked vehicle when Officer Dollard shot him once in the chest, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Langley was transported to Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

He leaves behind 10 children and one grandchild, WGTS reported.

Charging documents said that Officer Dollard told investigators that she fired her weapon because she feared for her life.

The arrest warrant also said the officer told investigators that she had not seen a weapon in Langley’s hands before she shot him, the Charlotte Observer reported.

SLED agents confirmed that no weapon was found at the scene and investigators believe Langley was unarmed.

Dashcam video of the shooting was shown to Langley’s family on Wednesday, the Charlotte Observer reported.

“They were able to hear him being shot unjustifiably. They were able to see him gargling blood and fighting for air,” Bakari Sellers, the attorney for Langley’s family, told reporters.

The video has not yet been released to the public.

Sellers claimed that Langley had no arrests warrants at the time of the incident and there was no reason for the officer to fear for her life, the Charlotte Observer reported.

“He rolled through a stop sign. Add him to the list of Tamir Rice having a toy gun,” Sellers said.

The 52-year-old Officer Dollard was arrested on Feb. 9 in Berkeley County and booked into jail in Georgetown County for her bond hearing the next day, WBTW reported.

She has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, the Charlotte Observer reported.

If convicted, the officer is facing between two and 30 years in prison.

At the bond hearing on Feb. 10, Officer Dillard’s attorney asked for a modest bond for the law enforcement officer, but prosecutors argued that she might be a flight risk, WCSC reported.

Officer Dollard’s bond was set at $150,000, WCIV reported.

Under the conditions of her bond, the officer can’t leave the state or change her address without notifying the solicitor’s office and must avoid contact with Langley’s family members.

South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy records showed that Officer Dollard has been a law enforcement officer for a variety of agencies for all but one year since 1994, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Records showed that Officer Dollard has been employed by six different law enforcement agencies and was fired by two of them.

In 2014, she was terminated by the State Transport Police for “willful violation of rules, regulations, policy or procedure; improper conduct/conduct unbecoming a state employee and negligence in the performance of duty,” WCIV reported.

Records also showed that Officer Dollard was terminated by the Johnsonville Police Department in 2002 for “poor performance.”

Officer Dollard joined the Hemingway Police Department on Sept. 30, 2021, WCIV reported.