The following were taken from actual incident reports filed last week by the City of Charleston Police Department. These are not convictions and the names of businesses, complainants, and suspects have beenleft out to protect the innocent. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty … of course.
September 26 | SIMPLE ASSAULT
A large after-school fight broke out in the front yard of a White Oak Drive resident’s home that included the father of one of the combatants showing up and repeatedly punching a middle school girl in the head with a closed fist. The resident reported that the fight began as soon as the school bus dropped the students off, and even though the fight had already begun, the driver shut the door and drove off. That was when a black sedan pulled up and a much older male with dreadlocks got out and began hitting one of the girls. At this point, the resident threatened to get their dog and the fight disbursed. The student who was being hit by the older male said the altercation started as an argument on the bus.
September 26 | SHOPLIFTING
A man rode up to a Sam Ritt department store on his bike, dismounted, walked inside and up to a display of women’s purses and used a pair of wire cutters to remove the security wire attached to them. The man then exited the store with four purses valued at over $1,300. As he left the store, security officers detained the man, who apparently had two prior property crime convictions.
September 27 | INJURED PARTY
Police responded to a Lyttleton Avenue home in the wee hours of the morning where a woman with a history of mental health issues claimed her husband had “punched her” in her bleeding wrist. It was the police’s second trip to the house that night. Once officers were able to awaken the husband, who had been sleeping in a separate bedroom, he was able to tell them that his wife had injured herself on the back porch “playing” with Thermite, a pyrotechnic composition often used to weld train rails together. The woman then said she had somewhat “blew up” her wrist, causing the fresh injuries, and then said her husband had punched her in the face four times. The woman insisted she was “homicidal,” and then said she was going to kill her husband. Police took the woman into protective custody and the man said he knew how to use water to make the Thermite spread throughout the house inert.
September 27 | GENERAL INFORMATION
A motorist noticed that an SUV traveling next to him down Sam Rittenberg was on fire, motioned the vehicle to pull over, and then put out the fire with an extinguisher he carries in his car. Once the fire was out, he helped the occupants get out of the SUV and walked them to a safe spot on the side of the road. Inside the vehicle had been a middle-aged woman and four children roughly between the ages of 6 and 11 years old. Another SUV soon showed up and carried occupants away. The car ended up being abandoned on the side of the road, as the woman who was driving said she was going to take it to a nearby dealership. When she did return to move the car, it had already been towed.
September 28 | FORGERY, COUNTERFEIT
Officers responded to Citadel Mall where a man was allegedly using fake $100 bills in multiple stores and attempting to pocket the change. In one store, the man apparently tried to purchase a package of underwear valued at $9. The man had also purchased a phone cord for $25, as well as other items. Officers noted that the man had almost $850 in cash in his person upon arrest.
September 28 | SIMPLE ASSAULT
Police responded to a report of a man waving a gun in the air at family members fighting in the parking lot of an Ashley Hall Plantation Road apartment complex where family members had gathered to pay their final respects to a dying grandmother. Two of those in attendance got into a verbal fight at the woman’s bedside, with one attempting to leave before it escalated. But once outside, the woman was struck in the head several times by the other woman as she attempted to get into her car and leave. As a large crowd began to gather, a man produced a handgun and told the crowd to disperse.
