Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Releases Name Of Deputy Charged Due To Wednesday Incident

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a former deputy and charges against the former deputy in regards to an incident Wednesday after the former deputy barricaded himself inside the bedroom of his apartment after deputies attempted to carry out an eviction notice. 39 year old Joshua Lee Underwood has been charged with Resisting Arrest. On Wednesday of this week, deputies from the Civil Division went to Crescent Pointe Apartments in Seneca to serve an order of eviction on Underwood. According to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office, Underwood was located in a back bedroom of the apartment and refused to leave the residence. Underwood led deputies to believe that he was armed with a firearm, according to the release, which led to a standoff between deputies and Underwood. 

Due to Underwood’s prior employment with the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Mike Crenshaw requested assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. SLED agents responded to the scene and Underwood surrendered to the agents without incident around 1:45 pm. 

Underwood was transported to the Greenville County Detention Center and then transported to the Oconee County Detention Center for a bond hearing. Bond was set at $50,000 surety and Underwood will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device upon his release as a condition of bond. 

Deputies went forward with the eviction process and a .40 caliber handgun was located and secured by deputies during the eviction process, according to the press release. 

According to the arrest warrant obtained by the Sheriff’s Office, Underwood made statements that he had a firearm in the bed and that he was not leaving. Underwood also said, according to the arrest warrant, that he would use force if deputies entered the bedroom to forcibly eject him from the premises.