(STORY BY CHASITI KIRKLAND)
Aiken County resident Devon Davenport, 30, remains in custody for stealing a Wagener police vehicle on Tuesday.
The State Law Enforcement Division is involved, a town representative said Wednesday. Wagener Police Chief Mike Goodwin referred all calls to SLED, which released this statement:
“During an encounter on Tuesday evening with Wagener Police Department officers, the man officers were speaking with stole a Wagener Police Department vehicle and drove off. Officers fired their weapons in the direction of the vehicle. No one was shot during the incident. The Wagener Police Department vehicle was later located unattended in Aiken County. The male subject, Davon Davenport, 30, was later located in Aiken County and taken into custody.”
On Tuesday evening, the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office alerted residents through the county’s CodeRED system to be on the lookout for Davenport. The suspect was last seen traveling on foot on Sand Dam Road, headed toward Lexington County, the message read.
A ham radio operator tuned to the police scanner at the time of the incident gave Facebook followers a play-by-play. According to his post, Davenport stole a silver truck, later identified as a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado, and then ditched it after about 10 minutes when it stopped moving without a key nearby. Authorities established a perimeter in the immediate area and deployed tracking dogs.
Davenport lives within three minutes of Sand Dam Road on Wagontong Road, the post said. The vehicle eventually was recovered near Sand Dam and Big Branch roads.
According to the post, officers chased Davenport on foot and tased him. He is behind bars on a temporary hold, arrest records show.
SLED is involved because an officer was injured. To what extent is not yet known. Davenport has a history of arrests, including DUI, malicious injury to property, shoplifting, simple larceny, and grand larceny.
