York County solicitor to make announcement on Sheriff Cannon’s high-speed chase by month’s end

The Upstate solicitor looking into a high-speed pursuit involving Sheriff Al Cannon’s slap of a handcuffed suspect said he would decide whether to file any more charges by the month’s end.

Solicitor Kevin Bracket of the 16th Circuit in York County was asked by the S.C. attorney general to review the case because local prosecutors feared a conflict.

The State Law Enforcement Division completed its report on the Jan. 30 pursuit in late spring, and Bracket has been conducting further interviews, he said.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office asked SLED to conduct a full investigation into the incident that started when Cannon’s vehicle was nearly struck by a pickup driven by Timothy Shawn McManus, who had a suspended driver’s license and a history of traffic violations.

McManus’ pickup eluded Cannon and his deputies for 25 miles, reaching speeds of 120 mph. The ordeal ended after the sheriff and his deputies fired shots at the Dodge’s tires, causing the vehicle to veer off the road in the Francis Marion National Forest.

McManus was then apprehended with the help of a police dog. Saying he was angry that McManus was driving recklessly, Cannon later admitted to slapping the 31-year-old as he sat restrained in a patrol car.

Among the Sheriff’s Office requests was for SLED to review whether the chase had violated any of its own policies.

Brackett said there are several issues to consider in determining any charges. He would not discuss specifics.

“The SLED investigation encompasses the entirety of the chase,” he said, “all the way through the suspect being apprehended and placed into back of back of the car, and the allegations of assault by the sheriff.”

Asked for comment Friday, Cannon declined to discuss the investigation.

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.