Midlands police officer, who stomped on man’s head, charged with assault, SLED says

A former city of Orangeburg police officer was charged with first degree assault after he stomped on a defenseless man’s head during an arrest, according to state agents.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division arrested David Lance Dukes on Saturday and jailed him at Orangeburg County Detention Center.

On July 26, Dukes was on patrol as an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officer and responded to a call for service at an apartment complex, SLED agents said in an arrest warrant. Dukes pulled his gun and ordered a man to the ground. The warrant doesn’t make clear who the man is or his involvement with the service call.

While the man was on his hands and knees in a defenseless position, Dukes raised his leg and “forcibly stomped with his boot on the victim’s neck and/or head area,” the warrant said. The man’s head hit the concrete. Paramedics took the man to a hospital with a contusion on his head.

The warrant said Dukes stomping on the man was “likely to produce death or great bodily injury.”

SLED investigated Dukes use of force at the request of Orangeburg public safety department. The 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute the case against Dukes. An attorney for Dukes was not publicly listed.

First degree assault is a felony punishable with up to 10 years in prison.