Mauldin Man Charged With Assaulting Officer

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office has charged 43-year-old Eric Nicholas Jones of second-degree assault and battery on a law enforcement officer, Public Information Officer Zach Hinton said Monday.

Jones, who is from Mauldin, is accused of tackling a sheriff's deputy to the ground on Friday, leading the officer to shoot him in the chest.

At roughy 3 p.m. on that day, the Sheriff's Office was notified of an apparently mentally ill man causing a disturbance at a family member's home at 22 Windcrest Drive, off of Roper Mountain Road.

When the deputy made contact with Jones, he suddenly charged the deputy and tackled him, according to the GCSO.

The deputy reportedly commanded the man, who has yet to be identified, to the get off of him multiple times. Eventually, the officer managed to grab his handgun, and fired a shot, which struck Jones in the chest.

Records at the Greenville County Detention Center indicate he has not been booked at the facility, and Sandra Dees, spokesperson for Greenville Memorial Hospital, said she could not release the suspect's condition Monday.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been called in to investigate the incident and the deputy involved has been placed on administrative duty, per standard operating procedure in shootings involving deputies. 

The GCSO will not release the name of the deputy involved until the investigation is completed.