Happening Today: CCSO press conference on deadly deputy-involved crash

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office will address a deputy-involved crash that killed three Colleton County women in a press conference Wednesday morning.

Sheriff Kristin Graziano has scheduled the conference for 11 a.m., happening at the sheriff’s office in North Charleston.

In a series of crashes between late Sunday night and early Monday morning, three Colleton County women were killed and three Charleston County deputies were injured.

The first crash happened at 11 p.m. when a deputy was en route to assist a disabled motorist when they collided with another vehicle near New Road.

Limited information on the crash was available, however, several occupants of the civilian vehicle were injured, said CCSO spokesperson, Andrew Knapp.

Later, the South Carolina Highway Patrol announced later that the driver and two passengers of the civilian vehicle were entrapped and died at the scene. The deputy involved, Emily Pelletier, was transported with non-life-threatening injuries to the Medical University of South Carolina.

Whether Pelletier had her emergency lights on or not is part of the investigation

“Pelletier was placed on administrative leave with pay as CCSO conducts an internal review,” per protocol, said Knapp.

The victims were identified as Stephania Dantzler, 53, Shanice Dantzler-Williams, 28, and Miranda Dantzler-Williams, 22.

Sheriff Graziano on Tuesday issued the following statement regarding the family members who died:

“Our hearts are broken for the family of Stephania, Shanice and Miranda. A member of my executive staff, a chaplain and I have met with the family, and CCSO is continuing to offer support; this is a tragic loss for our community. We are committed to reviewing our response policies to ensure we are doing our best to serve the public.”

The second crash happened Monday morning, around 2:30 a.m., when emergency crews responding to the initial crash were trying to block traffic and another vehicle failed to stop and hit another cruiser, with blue lights flashing, about a half-mile away.

There were two deputies in that vehicle, identified as Deputy Jonathon Rand and Deputy Joy DeSomber, were entrapped and had to be extricated from the cruiser.

Knapp said that the deputies were taken to MUSC with serious injuries. The driver of the civilian vehicle was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Pelletier and DeSomber were released from the hospital on Monday and Rand is still hospitalized but stable, according to CCSO.