Two Thugs Self Terminate

Two of our Lowcountry thugs decided to commit suicide last night while attempting to flee from Charleston County deputies with a car full of narcotics. While we are sure their families will mourn the fact they are now busy assuming room temperature and will certainly miss their ability to generate undeclared, tax free income through their illicit enterprises, the majority of folks in the Lowcountry can breathe a sigh of relief.

"Toland Gathers" has two bare profiles on Facebook. "Shahied Ladson" has a profile with a few photos of his tattoo and some sneakers. What concerns us is their criminal records. Both were lengthy, even when we decided to ignore all of the traffic charges. Based on what we saw we don't believe either of these thugs had a valid driver's license in the first place.

We will kick off our arrest analysis by examining the record of Toland Gathers.

Gathers was first arrested as an adult in 1995. He was charged with Unlawful Carrying of a Pistol in March of that year. The charge was dismissed the following June with the notation "no probable cause". Once again we find ourselves inquiring of the 9th Circuit Solicitor, "Did he have a weapon or not?"

In November of 1997 Gathers was arrested for 1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. The charge was dismissed a month and a half later when the victim dropped the charges.

May of 1999 rolled around and Gathers was charged with Criminal Domestic Violence. He was found not guilty in a bench trial. Curiously, he was charged with Simple Assault the same day as he was found not guilty of CDV. This tells us there was some type of plea deal. Gathers was sentenced to $125 standard time payment or twenty days in jail.

Y2K and new charges galore for Gathers. In March he was charged with 1st Offense Possession of Marijuana.

In May he was charged with 1st Offense Distribution of Crack Cocaine and Distribution of Crack Cocaine Within the Proximity of a School.

Two months later Gathers was arrested again and charged with Unlawful Carrying of a Pistol. Why not - he already got away with it once. He was also charged with Unlawful Sale of Pistol.

In October he was charged with Distribution of Crack Cocaine, Distribution of Crack Cocaine Within Proximity of a School and Resisting Arrest.

In June of 2001 Gathers was charged with Possession With Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Distribution Within Proximity of a School, Resisting Arrest and Possession of Crack Cocaine.

All of the charges accrued by Gathers during the years 2000 and 2001 were disposed of at one time. He pled guilty to resisting arrest and received a one year sentence. The 9th Circuit Solicitor allowed him to plea the crack distribution charge down to possession of crack. He was sentenced to five years, suspended on the service of one year and the remainder on probation. Gathers also pled guilty to the unlawful carrying of a pistol charge and was sentenced to one year. He was given credit for time served - 144 days. He pled guilty to possession of crack and was sentenced to five years, suspended on service of one year. He pled guilty to the second resisting arrest charge and received another one year sentence. All of the other charges resulting from this crime spree were dismissed. Judge Hughston set the sentences to run concurrently and Gathers was free to prey upon the citizens of the Lowcountry again.

Seems like a pretty sweet deal to us. Run wild for almost two years and spend four only four months in jail.


2003 rolled around and Gathers was charged with 3rd Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, Kidnapping and Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature. The charges were allowed to pend for two years. In 2005 Gathers pled guilty to the sexual assault charge and was sentenced to four years with credit for time served.

While awaiting the outcome of his most recent sexual assault charges, Gathers was charged again with Criminal Domestic Violence in November of 2004. We find it interesting that the same disposition judge, Marshall Rawl, found him not guilty again in another bench trial.

Apparently Gathers did his prison time because we don't hear from him again until 2007 when he was arrested of Distribution of Cocaine and Distribution of Cocaine Within Proximity of a School. He was allowed to plead the distribution charge down to possession of cocaine and received a sentence of one year, suspended on service of eighty-five days and one year of probation. The distribution near a school charge was - you guessed it - dismissed.

May of 2009. Gathers was charged with Giving False Information to police. He pled guilty and was sentenced to a $250 fine or 30 days in jail.

In September of 2009 Gathers was charged with a probation violation. Finally. No disposition provided.

Now let's move on to Shahied Ladson. His first arrest was in 2000 when he charged with Unlawful Carrying of a Pistol. Two years later he pled guilty and was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act to a term not to exceed one year, suspended on one year of probation.

Ladson stayed busy in 2001. In May he was charged with two counts of Possession of Marijuana. There is no disposition on these charges. On the same date he was also charged with Trafficking in Cocaine and Distribution Within 1/2 Mile of a School.

The two cocaine charges were taken care on the same day in 2002 as the firearm charge. He was allowed to plea the trafficking charge down to distribution of cocaine and was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act to a term not to exceed one year, suspended on one year of probation. This sentence was to run concurrently with the firearm charge. The distribution near a school was dismissed.

In July of 2002 he was charged with Disorderly Conduct and was found guilty. He was sentenced to a standard time payment of $100 or fifteen days in jail.

In September of 2002 he was charged with Possession of Marijuana. He was found guilty and sentenced to a standard time payment of $430.

In September of 2002 Ladson was charged with Possession of Crack Cocaine. The charge was dismissed at the preliminary hearing with a note that there was no probable cause for the arrest.

Ladson began 2003 with a Possession of Stolen Goods charge in January. He was found not guilty in a bench trial.

Ladson managed to stay away from law enforcement until 2007. He was arrested in April and charged with Resisting Arrest. He pled guilty and was sentenced to one year.

On April 22, 2007 he was charged with Possession of Cocaine. The charge was dismissed the same day he pled guilty to resisting arrest.

In November of 2007 he was charged again with Resisting arrest. This charge was handled at the same time as the above resisting arrest charge. The charge was dismissed.

On October 18 of 2009 Ladson was charged with Failure to Stop for Blue Lights and Habitual Traffic Offender. He was allowed to plead guilty in January 2011 to a charge of Driving Under Suspension. He was fined $100. The failure to stop charge was dismissed.

We find it interesting that so many of the crook who initiate dangerous car chases have those charges dismissed. Is it any wonder our insurance rates are so high in this state?

26 October, 2011 brought a charge of Giving False Information to Law Enforcement. The notes indicate a pre-trial conference, but no disposition.

Ladson was also charged with Possession With Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base and given a $25,000 bond. The charge was still pending when that infernal tree got in his way.

He was also charged with a couple of violation of failure to appear on traffic tickets.

In November of 2011 he was charged with 1st Offense Possession of Cocaine Base (Crack) and Judge Baldwin released him on a $5,000 bond. It would seem Baldwin thought maybe another 5k would keep him in line since the 25k didn't.

Just this past February Ladson was charged with Possession of Ecstacy. The charge was dismissed at the preliminary hearing in April.

When we started checking into these two thugs earlier today we suspected the reason behind their flight. The media confirmed that drugs were found in the vehicle and on each of the dead thugs.