A Charleston Police Department (CPD) officer has been charged with driving under the influence (DUI).
Dawson James Dyer, 24, was arrested by the South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) after being involved in a multi-vehicle accident on the morning of December 10. He was later released from the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center on a $992 bond, as per jail records. The incident, which involved four vehicles, occurred around 12:20 a.m. on Maybank Highway near Hickory Knoll Way. Dyer was driving a 2016 Ford sedan owned by the City of Charleston westbound on Maybank Highway when the collision happened. The other vehicles, a 2015 Honda utility vehicle, a 2021 Subaru utility vehicle, and a 2011 Toyota sedan, were heading east.
The crash began with a collision between Dyer’s Ford and the Honda, subsequently involving the Subaru and the Toyota. The drivers of the Honda, the Subaru, and Dyer himself were hospitalized following the incident, as reported by the SCHP. The CPD clarified that at the time of the accident, Dyer was off-duty, not in uniform, and not performing any official duties, though he was driving his assigned police vehicle.
Following the incident, the CPD has terminated Dyer’s employment. He had been with the department for two years, serving in the patrol division.
