The Aiken County deputy who shot at a fleeing drug suspect on Monday is the same officer who opened fire on a New Ellenton man in November and killed him.
Deputy Sylvester Young was one of two officers who responded to a suspicious vehicle at 3:30 p.m. Monday at a vacant address on Wooden Drive in North Augusta. A confrontation led Deputy Young to shoot twice at a vehicle, hitting the forearm of 23-year-old Chanden Emory (pictured here from a 2009 photo).
Deputy Young is the same officer who fatally shot 43-year-old Joel B. Keenan in November after the man raised two weapons at officers. Keenan refused to put down the weapons and was shot. Witnesses say Keenan – a repeat offender with a record of arrests – had pointed a gun earlier at a stranger while at a nearby gas station.
In that fatal shooting, Deputy Young was placed on administrative leave as SLED investigated the shooting but was later cleared of any wrongdoing. He has been with the Sheriff’s Office since December 2014. (Story continues below.)
In Monday’s incident near Chariot Court (shown above), Deputy Young and Deputy Joel Knight confronted the occupants of one vehicle about the smell of marijuana. The two suspects inside the vehicle handed over their marijuana. But as the deputies approached the second vehicle, Emory started backing up, according to a sheriff’s report.
When officers ordered Emory to stop, the suspect accelerated and struck Deputy Joel Knight with the vehicle. Deputy Young then fired two rounds into the vehicle, striking Emory in the forearm, a sheriff’s report says.
Emory continued to flee at a high rate of speed and threw a bag of cash out of his vehicle. Deputy Knight chased him with blue lights flashing. Moments later, Emory stopped on Edgefield Road and was arrested. Officers found marijuana in the car, saying the two deputies had apparently interrupted a drug deal.
Both Emory and Knight were transported to a local hospital. Deputy Knight suffered a minor injury to his leg, authorities said. SLED was called in and assumed the investigation for the officer-involved shooting.
Once he is released from an Augusta hospital, Emory will be extradited to Aiken County on a charge of attempted murder. Emory has no previous criminal record, authorities said.
The occupants of the other vehicle, 17-year-old Caleb Anthony Johnson of North Augusta and 18-year-old Sirena Rose Iglinsili of Beech Island, were both charged with marijuana possession.
For more crime news, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report, sold in local gas stations for $1.50.