Race, profit behind 2023 Florence Co. traffic stop, lawsuit claims

FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A specialized Florence County Sheriff’s Office unit that conducts traffic stops along major interstates used its power to target a Black man, nearly escalating a minor infraction into a narcotics charge, a newly filed lawsuit claims.

That’s the argument of a Florida man suing the agency for unlawful seizure and negligence. His complaint was filed Wednesday in Florence County Common Pleas Court and names the Florence County Sheriff’s Office as defendant.

Samuel Smith was pulled over along Intestate 95 in September 2023 by Tyler Nicholson, a part of the office’s criminal enforcement unit, for allegedly driving his 2007 Mercedes five miles over the 60-mph limit.

Nicholson asked for Smith’s driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, declining to tell the man why he was pulled over first — a violation of the state Criminal Justice Academy’s introductory training class, according to the lawsuit.

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The decision to ignore protocol was intentional, because “his traffic stop was never about traffic safety or the violation of any traffic laws,” according to the lawsuit.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Maj. Michael Nunn told News13 the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Video recording system at issue?

The lawsuit alleges that criminal enforcement unit vehicles lack in-car recording systems to “intentionally not preserve video evidence … such evidence would support that Plaintiff was targeted for the traffic stop because he was a Black man, driving a Mercedes with Florida tags,” the suit alleges.

Smith began recording the interaction for his own safety and protection after he was asked to get out of the car and refused to consent to a search, a move that he said “upset” the deputy.

About three minutes into the stop, Smith asked for Nicholson’s supervisor, which was refused. Nicholson then told him to sit in the front passenger seat of his vehicle, which Smith declined to do.

Smith is then told to stand next to Nicholson’s front passenger window as he enters the driver’s side and continues to ask the man questions, which he refuses to answer.

It’s a practice the criminal enforcement unit relies on “regularly,” hoping to catch people giving inconsistent answers to support “manufactured probable cause” for vehicle searches, according to the lawsuit.

Nicholson then called K9 deputy Tommy Rauch, whose dog conducted a “free air sniff” and hit on Smith’s car for possible narcotics.

“At the time of Nicholson’s request for Rauch to respond with his dog, Smith has done nothing more than allegedly commit a minor traffic violation; ask to be told the reason for the stop; begin recording the stop for his own safety; assert his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches; and in response to unnecessary interrogation from Nicholson, assert his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent,” the suit claims.

Rauch told Smith everything was being recorded on body cameras, but his device wasn’t activated until after the dog supposedly detected drugs in Smith’s car, according to the lawsuit.
According to Florence County Sheriff’s Office procedure, deputies and any backup are required to use their body-worn cameras during traffic stops.

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“What follows is a comical search … where they proceed to pull all of Smith’s belongings, which had been meticulously packed tightly in an organized manner, out of his trunk, laying them on the ground, while they search for contraband that does not exist,” the lawsuit states.
At several points, deputies used a crow bar to pull up portions of the car’s interior. The vehicle’s center console was also broken during the search.

At 9:26 a.m. — nearly a half hour after he was initially pulled over — Smith is handed a warning ticket and sent on his way after deputies haphazardly loaded everything back into the car.

Smith is asking to be compensated for emotional and physical injury, mental anguish and distress, apprehension and anxiety, out-of-pocket expenses and property damage to his car.

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