Chase ends with wanted man blasting deputies with bear spray, SC sheriff says

Two South Carolina law enforcement agencies were involved in the chase and capture of a wanted man, but not before he used bear spray on deputies and a police dog, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

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Keith Kasyjanski, 53, was arrested in Fairfield County Tuesday following a chase that began in neighboring Richland County, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office also was involved in the pursuit, according to the release.

At about 10:40 a.m., a Richland County deputy pulled over a vehicle on Fairfield Road near I-20, the sheriff’s department said. The deputy made the traffic stop because the vehicle was speeding and failed to stay in lane, according to the release.

The driver, later identified as Kasyjanski, refused to provide his identification and fled from the deputy, the sheriff’s department said. The pursuit ended in Fairfield County, near Columbia Road and Ninth Street, after a Richland County K-9 unit disabled the vehicle using a PIT maneuver, according to the release.

Kasyjanski continued to be non-compliant and was apprehended by Ares, a Richland County police dog, the sheriff’s department said. That’s when Kasyjanski used bear spray on Ares before also spraying it onto five Richland County deputies and a Fairfield County deputy, according to the release.

Richland County deputies used Tasers on Kasyjanski to gain control of him, and take him into custody, the sheriff’s department said.

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All deputies were decontaminated by EMS at the scene, and Ares was decontaminated by his handler, according to the release.

Kasyjanski was charged with reckless driving as well as failure to stop for blue lights and siren by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. He’s facing charges from the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office on six counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer while resisting arrest and one count of injuring a police dog, according to the release.

The deputies learned that Kasyjanski had warrants from the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and Winnsboro Public Safety, the sheriff’s department said.

Kasyjanski was taken to a local hospital for treatment following the K-9 bite and Taser strikes, according to the release. He will be taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center after being discharged from the hospital, the sheriff’s department said. As of Wednesday morning he was not listed on the jail’s inmate roster.