Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announces the arrest of a man responsible for vandalizing the home of Jonathan Pentland during a protest in the Summit community last month.
Taijier Isaiah Ellis (DOB: 9/30/1995) is charged with malicious injury to real property and breach of peace in the April 14 incident.
Cell phone video taken at the scene shows Ellis using a baseball bat to smash lights on the front of the home. Afterwards, Ellis can be seen walking away and throwing the baseball bat into a storm drain. That bat was later recovered from the drain and collected as evidence.
After consulting with the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, warrants for Ellis’ arrest were obtained.
Ellis was arrested by Columbia Police around 12:30 a.m. today in the 500 block of Gervais Street. They were called to the area for a report of a person, soon identified as Ellis, looking into cars and trying to get into a closed business. He was taken into custody when officers learned he had active warrants from RCSD. Ellis was then turned over to Richland County Deputies.
“It was the videos, pictures and information from people at the scene that were instrumental in getting Ellis identified and ultimately arrested,” Sheriff Lott said. “The community has shown that they will not tolerate these criminal acts undermining their right to peacefully protest.”
He was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.