Pickens County Man Arrested After Cherokee SWAT Standoff

A Pickens County man is in jail after a two-hour standoff with the Cherokee County SWAT Team Friday afternoon near Holly Springs. 

Kenneth Lee Nelson, who was wanted on outstanding warrants from Pickens County, was taken into custody and transported to Pickens on aggravated assault domestic violence and violation of a temporary restraining order charges. 

At around 2:30 p.m., a man flagged down a sheriff's deputy in the 2000 block of Brick Mill Road between Canton and Holly Springs. The man told the deputy Nelson, his father, was inside a home on the street and armed with a gun. 

The man told deputies his father was wanted out of Pickens County and his father said he "would shoot any police officer that came to the door," according to a press release from the Cherokee Sheriff's Office. 

The young man also said his father's mother, who suffers from numerous health issues, was inside the home. 

The agency's Unifom Patrol Division established a perimeter around the home while the Cherokee County SWAT Team and negotiations arrived onto the scene. 

Negotiator on numerous occasions tried to make contact with Nelson, and once Nelson did establish contact, he was "uncooperative" with negotiators.

Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison later arrived onto the scene. Garrison, who knew Nelson and his family, made contact with man inside the home and was able to convince him to surrender around 4:30 p.m.

"Fortunately, the relationship Sheriff Garrison had with the family played a major role in the situation ending peacefully," said Lt. Ron Hunton. "While the sheriff of a county becoming directly involved in an event such as this may be a little unorthodox, it demonstrates the importance of law enforcement being flexible and adapting to various situations and using whatever tools are available to end a situation like this peacefully."

Nelson was armed with a loaded .223 caliber AR 15 type rifle. The suspect's mother was not harmed in the standoff.  

Cherokee Sheriff's Office detectives continue to investigate as to whether any charges could be filed in relation to the incident. Nelson remains at the Pickens County Adult Detention Center on misdemeanor simple battery and felony aggravated assault charges.