South Carolina police officer out on bond after killing unarmed Black man
Hemingway police officer Cassandra Dollard posts $150,000 bond days after killing Robert Langley following high-speed chase
The South Carolina police officer who authorities said fatally shot an unarmed Black man after the two of them engaged in a high-speed chase on Feb. 6 was released on bond on Saturday.
Hemingway Police Department officer Cassandra Dollard, 52, of Hemingway, South Carolina posted $150,000 bond yesterday, according to Georgetown County Detention Center online records.
Dollard, who is Black, was charged with voluntary manslaughter on Wednesday for allegedly shooting and killing Robert Junior Langley, 46, a week ago after attempting to pull him over around 1:30 a.m. in Hemingway for allegedly running a stop sign, according to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division press release.
Langley, who also was Black, failed to stop his car and Dollard used her vehicle to chase him for eight miles, according to an arrest warrant. The vehicles reached speeds greater than 100 mph before Langley crashed his car in a ditch in Georgetown County.
Investigators said Dollard shot Langley in the chest as he was trying to exit his vehicle through the passenger door. He died after he was transported to a nearby hospital.
“In a statement to agents, Dollard claimed she was in fear for her safety and due to that fear, she discharged her department-issued firearm once, striking Langley in the chest,” a special agent wrote on Dollard’s arrest warrant affidavit.
Dollard and Langley’s chase took place in multiple South Carolina counties, according to her warrant affidavit, which said she “had no authority to arrest Langley” outside of Williamsburg County, where Hemingway is located.
“Dollard states she did not identify a weapon in Langley’s hands, nor was a weapon recovered from the scene,” the warrant affidavit said.
Attorneys for Langley’s family told reporters on Wednesday that the father of 10 had recently become a grandfather and didn’t have any outstanding warrants when his fatal encounter with law enforcement took place.
Family attorney Bakari Sellers said authorities let Langley’s relatives watch police dashboard camera footage of the incident.
“They were able to hear him being shot unjustifiably. They were able to see him gargling blood and fighting for air,” Sellers said during a Wednesday press conference concerning the shooting.
Langley’s mother, Roslyn Langley, told reporters that her son’s death was unjustifiable and said he was the one who took care of her when she couldn’t take care of herself.
“When they took him, they took my heart away,” she said. “It hurts when you have a child and somebody takes that child from you unnecessarily.”
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