Attorney General Alan Wilson announces Orangeburg man pleads guilty to shooting police, other crimes

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – July 21, 2021 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that Eugene Jonathon James, 23, of Orangeburg, SC, pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple crimes, including two counts of Attempted Murder. He also pleaded guilty to one count of Failure to Stop for Blue Lights, one count of Possession of a Stolen Pistol, one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Person Convicted of a Violent Felony, one count of Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, value $2,000-$10,000, and one count of Speeding >15MPH but <25MPH, (57/35). He received a negotiated 20-year sentence consecutive to the 10-year sentence he received from the federal government for unlawfully being in possession of a pistol. That means he’ll serve the 20-year state sentence and then the 10-year federal sentence. Judge Debra R. McCaslin sentenced James in the Lexington County Courthouse.

On May 27, 2017, Sergeant Evan Antley and Officer Roy Barr observed a car speeding down Knox Abbott Drive and attempted to make a traffic stop when the car fled, leading officers on a chase until the suspect turned onto a dead end at Gist Street. James jumped out of the stolen car and ran down a footpath on the Riverwalk before jumping into the brush and waiting in the ditch for the officers to approach.  Once James was spotted by the officers he began firing at them with a stolen pistol.  Both officers were able to return fire, but each received non-fatal gunshot wounds.

This case was investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and was prosecuted by Heather S. Weiss of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.