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.
May 24 | Shoplifting
Police responded to a shoplifting complaint at an area superstore, only to find the alleged perpetrator had already left the premises. A local man had rolled a shopping cart out the door with a large take, including $40 in pork chops and $75 in ground beef. A check of the store’s video system allowed the police to spot the man’s license plate, and they tracked the plate to an address where a man answered the door matching the description of the shoplifter. When police attempted to arrest the man and take him back to the store for better identification, the man began to struggle and resist. After putting the man in the squad car, officers were able to retrieve from the man’s apartment a small cache of toilet paper and water bottles.
May 24 | Disorderly conduct
A man walked into a West Ashley late night diner, locked himself in the bathroom, began bathing himself, and refused to exit upon staff requests. When police arrived, the man was walking in the middle of Savannah Highway, prompting an officer to ask the man to get out of the street for safety sake. The man refused, became belligerent, hurled insults and obscenities at the officer, and later refused to give his name. He was incarcerated under the name “Doe, John.”
May 27 | Resisting arrest
A police officer patrolling behind a Savannah Highway motel noticed a man exhibiting what he deemed to be suspicious actions. Upon approach, the man attempted to run away, but stopped when the officer pulled his “electronic control device,” or Taser. The man refused to lie on the ground and made another run for it, at which point the officer wrestled the man to the ground and handcuffed him. The man then gave a name that was his brother’s, but was soon identified and arrested for outstanding warrants on his own name.
May 28 | Death investigation
Police responded to a Magwood Drive apartment where the friend of an older ailing woman had called in her death. The woman told police she hadn’t seen her friend in a while, and so she entered her friend’s apartment with a key, and found her sitting in a dressing gown on the couch next to her walker, not moving. Police determined the death was from natural causes.
May 28 | Aggravated assault with a knife
Two roommates threatened each other with cutting implements during a disagreement over unpaid utility bills at their Lochaven Drive apartment. One of the women had threatened the other with a box cutter, saying, “I’m not afraid to use this.” The second roommate went and got a kitchen knife, saying, “If you’re going to act crazy, I can act crazy, too.” A third roommate separated the two initially, but when the fight and the brandishing resumed, she stepped outside and called police.
May 28 | Wire fraud
A widow went to a Sam Rittenberg Boulevard bank after she discovered that a family member was trying to cash a $2,5000 check on her deceased husband’s bank account. The account was still in probate, following the man’s death three years ago. The other party apparently agreed to return the money, but later reneged.
May 28 | Telephone calls, harassing, obscene
The manager of a Savannah Highway car dealership called police to complain that a woman, recently released from prison, was calling and threatening one of his employees. The employee’s ex-husband apparently owed the other woman some money. The manager asked the woman be on a no-trespass list for his business.