Trying to run over someone is a serious offense. Disobeying a command from a cop shouldn't be.
I don't believe that you can take it at face value that he attempted to run anyone over. In the political climate in SC today I believe that he would have been gunned down had he indeed tried to do so. Mammon approacheth and largely due to tu*ds like the one being discussed here. When it comes to standing up for the good in our civilisation they check their nuts at the door.
I also don't believe he said anything attributed to him in the article. People will say that so and so said such and such and they don't even remember what they said themselves two minutes earlier. I noticed that the witness providing the "do you know who I am" attribution isn't identified.
Even though I don't care much for this prof or his buds, I doubt nearly every word of this piece. It was written by someone who wasn't there and who didn't even talk to anyone who was there, apparently.
Where I come from we call this kind of report "He said, She said".