SOUTH CAROLINA — A domestic disturbance in Oconee County escalated into a police chase that crossed into Georgia earlier this month, leading to the arrest of a Westminster man now facing multiple felony charges.
According to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a home on West Bennett Road in Westminster on Oct. 17 after receiving a report of a domestic disturbance.
When deputies arrived, they spoke with a woman who said 46-year-old John Justin Casey Ward had rammed her Jeep with his vehicle outside a home on Deborah’s Way, near West Bennett Road.
Arrest warrants state that after the crash, Ward went into his home, pointed a shotgun at several people, and assaulted the woman while armed, in the presence of two children. The woman and children fled the home and met with deputies nearby.
Deputies later spotted Ward driving a blue Ford F-250 on Highway 123 and attempted a traffic stop. Ward refused to pull over, sparking a pursuit that crossed into Stephens County, Georgia, and ended near Highway 123 and Old Jarret Road.
Ward was taken into custody and booked into the Stephens County Jail before being transported back to South Carolina on Oct. 29. He is currently being held at the Oconee County Detention Center, where he was denied bond.
Ward faces multiple charges, including two counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, attempted murder, aggravated breach of peace, domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, failure to stop for a blue light, first-degree burglary, malicious injury to personal property, pointing and presenting a firearm, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and two counts of unlawfully placing a child at risk of harm.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the incident.
