A Fort Mill police officer required stitches Friday after a furious fight with a suspected drug dealer off Joe Louis Street, authorities said.
Steven Montana Green, 35, of Fort Mill, was inside a Dodge Avenger on Friday afternoon when someone complained to police about him using drugs while parked near Washington Street. The suspect’s vehicle reeked of marijuana when Officers Robert Donahue and T.A. Jackson pulled up around 3 p.m., a police report says.
The officers asked Green to step out so they could search it. The driver then took off running through a yard, hopped a fence into a home on Steel Street and then fell, a report says.
The officer’s report describes the resulting struggle: “Officer Donahue fell on top of the driver and held the driver on the ground who was attempting to grab something beneath him. As Donahue was trying to get the driver’s hand out from underneath him, a pistol was felt in the driver’s hand. During the struggle, the gun was flung to the side … but still in arms reach. Donahue unholstered his duty weapon and held it to the driver as he laid on top of him, waiting for backup.”
The suspect was eventually handcuffed and taken into custody. But Officer Donahue suffered an injury to his right hand requiring medical attention and stitches, the report says.
During a search of the suspect and his vehicle, officers discovered crack cocaine, ecstasy and 21 grams of marijuana along with two scales and multiple blue baggies. Green was charged with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession of ecstasy, unlawful carry of a pistol, resisting arrest causing injury to officer, providing false info and marijuana possession.
Green was also wanted on a fugitive warrant from Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia.