He had no warrant information at that time
<><><><
You may want to check the fact on this one. I think that at the time of the shooting, the cop did know that there was an outstanding warrant for non payment of child support.
I am not up on all the latest perhaps, but driving a car that is not yours is not the same as driving a stolen car. Is there any information at present that the car was stolen?
Think through this with me for a moment... the guy was driving a car that wasn’t his, so running the license plate wouldn’t have turned up the warrant. Slager had most likely input the DL data once he got it, but he hadn’t yet requested a backup, which is routinely done when a warrant turns up. So, that’s one possible indication.
Second, and more significant, is that there’s no “one crime per dude” rule. As Scott’s arm-length arrest record shows, those who take a casual view of the law frequently violate more than one provision. In my neighborhood, gang bangers busted for crimes of violence frequently also have spousal abuse and TRO violation wants and multiple driving and drug offenses. So even if Slager knew that particular warrant was for contempt, he wouldn’t have known it was the only thing Scott had done. What he did know is that the guy who gave him a squirrely story for why he was driving somebody else’s car foot bailed as soon as Slager started to check his record.