Father arrested after fleeing Sumter County traffic stop while leaving child in stolen vehicle

SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office announced a man has been arrested after he abandoned his child in a vehicle while running away from deputies.

Officials said Faquanta Urell Benjamin, 21, was arrested after an arrest warrant was issued for Benjamin. On Nov. 15, a Sumter County deputy spotted a car fitting the description of a stolen vehicle. The deputy confirmed the information, made a U-turn, and tried initiating the stop.

Benjamin, the driver, tried to avoid the deputy and he turned down Starview Drive and stopped near Wentworth Court, when Benjamin stopped the vehicle, the passenger exited the vehicle with an infant and ran from the scene.

The passenger ran the vehicle from deputies with an infant and left the infant at a residence, before continuing to evade deputies. The child was found and safely returned to its mother.

The deputy ordered the driver to exit the vehicle and after being detained he was identified as Benjamin. During an investigation, detectives discovered the infant that was left at a residence was the same one he left during a Nov. 6 traffic stop where he fled police.

While searching the car, deputies found ten counterfeit $100 bills.

Benjamin is being held at the Sumter County Detention Center and is being charged with unlawful conduct toward a child by willfully abandoning and placing a child at risk of harm, possession of a stolen vehicle, and driving under suspension.

If you have any information that will help deputies, you are encouraged to contact the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office at 803-436-2000 or by using the Crimestoppers tips app.

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