Cayce Department of Public Safety investigating encounter with “activist” suspected of vandalism

Cayce, SC (Paul Kirby) – According to a spokesperson for the Cayce Department of Public Safety, on the evening of Monday, June 8, 2020 at 8:11 p.m., their dispatch center received a call regarding a complaint that two females with young children in strollers were vandalizing the Cayce Riverwalk. According to the caller, they were doing this with paint.

When an officer responded to this request for service, he encountered two females matching the description of the suspects pushing the strollers in the vicinity of the West Columbia Riverwalk Park and Amphitheater. The officer total time from receipt of call to his encounter with the women was just 11 minutes.

When the first officer stopped and began his interaction with these women, the officer attempted to speak to both of them. He was able to observe paint on their clothing and their person that was in plain view, according to the department’s spokesperson.

The Cayce officer simply asked for the pair to produce some identification; however, the demeanor of the women escalated quickly. Even as the officer remained calm, both ladies refused to cooperate or produce any identification. They then tried to leave the area.

According to the department and its supporting body and dashcam footage, the women continued to display this behavior and were verbally aggressive toward the officer who first came upon them. Other officers had since arrived, and the women threatened the Cayce officers saying that they, “are going down.”

They two made numerous false accusations on the scene. One even stated that the Cayce officer put his knee on her neck. According to Cayce’s officers on scene and its department’s senior management who reviewed all the footage, this absolutely did not happen.

In an apparent attempt to further raise tension between officers and other people who surrounded the area, one of the young ladies began to make outlandish statements like: “We saw other black people spray painting the bridge,” and, “I’m an activist, this is a revolution.” At one point one of the women said, “I’m naked!” while exposing herself to Cayce’s officers.

The Cayce officers called on their training as they worked to deescalate the situation. Meanwhile, all of this was being recorded on in-car dash and body cameras.

In order to provide 100% transparency, the Cayce Department of Public Safety has said the are releasing that first footage from their on scene camera to the public of the initial encounter with the suspects. Because of the length of the rest of the footage, it is being released sometime soon. The department says that footage will include their officer’s full interaction with the two suspects.

At the conclusion of this encounter and out of concern for the children present, the Cayce officers allowed the two females to leave the area, however their investigation is currently ongoing.

The footage from the dash and body cameras can be seen by following this link: https://youtu.be/YVT-FrWQD5g

We will continue to update you as this story develops.