Mug Shots

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 been left off to protect the innocent. All suspects are  innocent until proven guilty, of course.
April 21 | General information
Two West Ashley journalists reported receiving a suspicious Facebook message from a group threatening to “execute” four American children if they were not paid $2.3 million. The journalists said the group used the name “Tcot Terrorists,” describing themselves as “holy terrorists of the word.” The message included a passage in Arabic.
April 21 | Impersonation
A West Ashley woman went to a nearby phone store to open a new account, but was told an account already existed in her name, and that a balance of over $1,000 was owed. When the woman asked for the billing address, it came back as her aunt’s residence, where she lived for a time last year. The woman said her aunt had access to all of her personal information. The woman attempted to contact her aunt, but the aunt wouldn’t speak with her.
April 21 |  Motor vehicle theft
A man returned to the spot on the I-526 onramp where his girlfriend had run out of gas the night before in his pickup truck to refuel the vehicle, only to find it missing the next morning. A call to the police department confirmed it had not been towed and a stolen vehicle report was issued.
April 22 | Disorderly conduct
An officer was present inside a St. Andrews Boulevard convenience store when a customer began yelling and cursing at a clerk with children present. The officer followed the man outside, exclaiming, “Sir, Charleston Police, Stop.” The man didn’t, but was stopped nearby. When asked what happened, the man said he had purchased two cans of alcoholic beverages earlier from a different store, and they had become hot, so he wanted to exchange them at that store for a couple of cold ones, which the clerk said he couldn’t.
April 22 | Shoplifting
A manager at an Orleans Road store showed police video footage of a couple coming into the store and apparently shoplifting an $160 electronic toothbrush. A subsequent inventory of the store found a $700 robot vacuum was missing, too.
April 22 | General information
A driver began following an SUV he said was driving recklessly near the intersection of Savage Road and Highway 17S. After giving the police a description of the vehicle and its license plate, the man refused to stop following the other driver’s SUV. The man followed the other driver into North Charleston’s jurisdiction, onto I-525, and eventually into downtown, repeatedly refusing orders from the police department to stop because of potential safety issues. Eventually, the two vehicles were stopped by police downtown. The driver of the SUV said the man following was “crazy” and that he hadn’t driven recklessly, just that he had been trying to get away from the man.
April 22 | All other larceny
A manager at an Old Charleston Road store showed police video footage of two men in a white panel van pull up at the store and make off with a $550 ceramic birdbath.
April 23 |Hit and run collision
A woman shopping at a Sam Rittenberg Boulevard store came out to the parking lot to find that the front bumper of her car had been “severely damaged.” The woman told police that she was “aware that many people dislike her so she wouldn’t be surprised if an enemy did this to her vehicle.”
April 23 |Burglary, breaking and entering
A manager at a West Ashley golf store reported coming to work that morning and finding the front glass door of the store shattered. The manager quickly surmised that there were 15 Titleist drivers valued at $450 each, and 16 TaylorMade drivers valued at $440 each missing.