County EMS worker charged

with assault

A county emergency medical services employee has been charged with assaulting a child. Scott Anthony Ludwig, 44, is charged with 3rd degree assault and battery, according to an arrest warrant.

Ludwig was restraining a 7-year-old student at New Bridge Academy in West Columbia last Friday when he struck the student in the face with his open right hand, the warrant said. The student was being transported for behavioral issues, investigators said.

The student tried to bite Ludwig’s arm before Ludwig struck him, according to the warrant. Detectives said Ludwig told them he hit the student as a reaction to being bitten.

Ludwig, a West Columbia resident, turned himself in at the Sheriff’s Department. He was booked into the Lexington County Detention Center.

Highway 6 motor vehicle fatality

A Lexington man has died as a result of a motor vehicle collision that occurred in the 2000 block of SC Highway 6 in Gaston at approximately 6 am on Feb. 28.

Nathan Michael Ludwig, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene due to his injuries, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.

Ludwig was traveling eastbound near Blackville Rd. when his vehicle crossed the center line and collided with another vehicle. Ludwig was wearing a seat belt when the incident occurred.

The driver of the other vehicle was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The collision is under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Lexington man gets 7 years for

throwing bodily fluids on officer

David Paul Merritt, 48, of Lexington, was sentenced to 7 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections for throwing bodily fluids on a corrections officer.

Merritt was serving his sentence for a prior assault and battery conviction in which he was allowed to serve his sentence on weekends.

While at the corrections facility, Merritt resisted officers and subsequently smeared feces on one of the officers.

At sentencing, the judge expressed his intent to fashion a sentence that would discourage future criminal conduct of this nature among inmates.

“The officers who serve in the Lexington County Detention Center have to be ready for anything as part of a very demanding job,” said Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.

“The level of commitment they display in an intense environment every day should make every Lexington County resident feel proud and safe.”

Merritt has multiple prior convictions for assault and battery. He was transported to the Department of Corrections to begin the immediate service of his active prison sentence.

Gaston woman arrested for drugs

at her first probation check-in

A Gaston woman faces charges after agents found drugs in her car during her first check-in at a probation office.

Tina Catherine Dent, 54, was found to be in possession of amphetamine, cocaine, crack, meth and other unidentified pills, according to investigators.

She’s charged with possession with intent to distribute Schedule II narcotics, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute meth, according to arrest warrants.

Dent was at the local SC Parole Office due to a previous drug violation, said Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.