Belligerant Perp Gets Police Car Door Slammed On His Head As He Resists Getting Into Car

A community activist is calling for a Greenville County sheriff's deputy to be fired after a video was released from a 2019 arrest that shows the deputy shutting a car door on a handcuffed man's head.

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office said in response that it investigates disputed incidents only if a person who was involved files a formal complaint.

On Tuesday, the man involved in the incident submitted a handwritten statement calling for action to be taken in light of his excessive force allegations. Activist Bruce Wilson emailed the one-page statement from the man to Sheriff Hobart Lewis, Capt. Jeff Long of the Greenville Police Department and Maj. Cliff Weir of the State Law Enforcement Division.

"I was beaten, assaulted and threatened by Greenville County Sheriff's Officers. I was punched in the face with handcuffs, and at the arrival of the detention center, the threats, assaults continued," Stephon Hopkins wrote in his letter. "Officer Walters dragged me out the patrol car and then used the door of his patrol car and slammed it on my face/head."

Hopkins, 31, of Greenville, pleaded guilty to resisting arrest after an incident on April 22, 2019, according to court records and arrest warrants. Other charges of interfering with officers serving warrants, assaulting a police officer while resisting arrest, failure to appear after release for a misdemeanor and hindering an officer were dismissed.