Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) deputies were able to talk a man who had called dispatchers asking for medical assistance to surrender to them after firing a rifle on Lakeshore Road off S.C. 97 near Camden on July 22.
According to the report, the first responding deputy knew that the man had been left by family members with a .22 caliber rifle. The man told dispatchers he was schizophrenic, bi-polar and wanted help. Dispatchers also sent emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to the scene.
Before other deputies or EMS could arrive on the scene, the responding deputy heard what sounded like a .22 caliber rifle shot. They advised another deputy of the shot being fired and the second deputy used their patrol car to block the road leading to the home. The first deputy made their way across a ditch and stood behind a tree for cover with their 9mm duty-issued gun in hand. Dispatchers advised they had the man on the phone, and the second deputy told them to relay a command to put the rifle down and come to the street side of the house.
As a precaution, the first deputy returned to their patrol car and retrieved a rifle, and then used an old Dodge Durango for cover so they could hear the man speaking to dispatchers. Both deputies gave loud, clear commands to come off the porch and his hands up. The man complied with all commands, including to get on the ground. EMS was allowed on the scene and transported the man -- who was described as “extremely intoxicated” -- to an emergency room for treatment.
The KCSO also reported the following recent incidents:
Deputies arrested an employee at the Dollar General store on Hermitage Pond Road in east Camden on July 25 after she allegedly scanned 14 pre-paid phone cards totaling more than $2,000. She had also allegedly unsuccessfully tried to obtain nearly $800 from Western Union, but was declined. After scanning the gift cards, the woman allegedly closed the store early, and counted all the cash from the till, but wrote out a deposit slip for less than that amount. She then allegedly placed the bad deposit slip in a safe and took the actual deposit and placed it in the deposit bag for the bank. She allegedly took cash, including rolls of quarters, dimes and nickels. The employee then allegedly went to the Walmart in Camden and the Pilot in Lugoff and purchased six pre-paid gift cards for nearly $500 each for a grand total of nearly $3,000. The woman then allegedly called the store manager and said “she had messed up.” She then reportedly called the district store manager, acting hysterical and claiming that someone who sounded like him had told him to do these things. The district manager then called a loss prevention manager and they agreed to meet at the store the following morning. The employee reportedly claimed the man who sounded like the district manager kept her on the phone for eight hours, from 5 p.m. to midnight, but security footage does not show her on the phone when she took the cash or exiting the building with it. The store manager said when she arrived, the employee was waiting outside the store with the remaining money with her, which consisted of all the rolled change. Deputies placed the woman under arrest for breach of trust with fraudulent intent more than $2,000 but less than $10,000. She was later released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, according to online court information.
Deputies assisted the S.C. Highway Patrol in arresting a 25-year-old Rembert man during a chase that started on I-20 and ended up near Beulah Church and Black River roads on Aug. 1. After exiting I-20 in an effort to avoid a trooper, the man reportedly got out of the vehicle and began fleeing on foot. A deputy spotted the man, but lost sight of him, so another deputy called for the KCSO’s tracking team. As the second deputy approached the area, he spotted a Camden police officer who had stopped their patrol car on Black River Road and was chasing the suspect on foot. The deputy drove their patrol car through a hay field in an attempt to cut the suspect off. When the deputy caught up, the suspect claimed he was “done.” However, as soon as the deputy exited their patrol car, the man took off again and jumped over a fence. The deputy followed and, when they got close enough, jumped on the suspect’s back and held on until the man went to the ground. Following a brief struggle, the deputy managed to handcuff the man and handed him off to a trooper.
Deputies charged a 20-year-old Kershaw man with reckless driving on July 29 after a deputy recorded him driving a black Kia sedan at 61 mph hour coming into Lugoff from Camden on the U.S. 1 bridge. The posted speed limit is 45 mph. According to the report, the young man passed several cars on the right on the bridge, later ended up in the left lane and abruptly moved across the right lane into a merge lane to get on to Longtown Road. During the subsequent chase, the deputy reported that speeds reached between 90 and 100 mph and that the Kia passed at least one car in a double-yellow line zone. Shortly thereafter, the driver stopped abruptly on the grass shoulder of Longtown Road. The deputy, along with two others who arrived on the scene, made a felony stop, during which the young man said he drove the way he had because he was scared and had just gotten his driver’s license from the DMV. A passenger was released from the scene and the car turned over to the young man’s father.
Deputies charged one Elgin woman with trespassing and reckless driving, and a second Elgin woman with third-degree assault and battery on July 30. A deputy responded to a Chestnut Hill Road, Elgin residence where the first woman allegedly made threats toward a man who had cleaned her property at the request of her sister. The second woman allegedly then taunted another man who had been trespassed from the property to come on the property. Once that man stepped on to the driveway, the second woman hit him three times in the face with a closed fist. The first woman then began using her truck to drag large pieces of steel and a chain through the first man’s yard and, after unhooking them, fishtailing and spinning tires through the yard. Deputies reported all of these actions were caught on one of the victim’s security cameras. That led deputies to arrest the women.
A deputy responded to a Rio Lane, Lugoff residence on July 24 for a fight in progress and found a male victim who said he was making a left onto Rio Lane from Whiting Way when a red Dodge truck struck the rear of his Chevy truck. He said when he got out of his truck, the other man became irate and pushed him, leading to a fight. The man said he was able to get away from his attacker, get into his truck and drive onto his own property. However, the man pulled his truck onto the property as well, struck the victim’s truck again and sped off, spinning tires in the victim’s yard. The suspect’s truck lost its front bumper, but the suspect threw it in the bed of their truck. The suspect’s passenger side mirror also came off and was left at the scene. The report indicated it came back to a Dodge Ram from model years 1998 through 2005.
A pit bull puppy stolen from Eskie Dixon Road in Lugoff was found in a vacant house on Watts Hill Road after the property owner discovered someone had been inside sometime during a few weeks prior to July 27. The out-of-town owner said they were at a party and decided to check on the property and found a toothbrush and shaving supplies in the bathroom, food in the refrigerator and on a kitchen county, a coat in a bedroom, and the pit bull puppy. A television had been moved from the bedroom to the living room. She returned the following day to find the coat, toothbrush and shaving equipment gone, but the food and puppy were still there. Also, a griddle was missing from the kitchen. Neighbors reported seeing a silver Chevrolet 300 with tinted windows near the home on multiple occasions.
No charges were filed, but a deputy responded to a Dru Lane, Lugoff residence on July 20 in response to a knife fight. Two men reportedly got into an argument that turned physical, with at least one of the men pulling out a knife. One man suffered cuts to the chin, left arm and back, while the other suffered a cut on their left hand. Neither man wanted to file charges against the other, so no one was arrested.
A 53-year-old man allegedly came toward a housemate and their friend in Cassatt with a chain saw. When deputies arrived, the man dropped the chain saw and fled the scene on a bike. The victim’s friend, however, was later arrested for public disorderly conduct after going house to house, banging on doors and entering uninvited while supposedly running from the suspect.
A couple living on Pitts Street south of Camden said someone broke into their two vehicles. A 40mm Taurus handgun was stolen from one of the cars. Early the following morning, the responding deputy attempted to speak to three young male subjects at the corner of Lakeshore Drive and U.S. 1, but they ran off into some woods and could not be located afterwards.
A woman living on St. Paul’s Church Circle northwest of Camden reported that a man she was considering dating tried to assault her at her home on July 23. She said her nephew was able to pull the man off her. She then went to another part of the house, grabbed a crutch and, “beat the hell out of him” before he left the scene.
Sometime on or before July 20, someone broke into a shop on Raley’s Mill Road near Bethune. The shop owner said they had not opened the shop for approximately two weeks prior to discovering that someone had broken the hasp to the front door lock and taken several items.
Sometime between 12:40 and 3:35 a.m. on July 26, someone stole three pistols, a game console and game controller from a Lakeshore Drive, Camden home while the victim responded to a family emergency.
Sometime between July 23 and 25, someone stole a washing machine from the front yard of a Hilton Street, east Camden residence where the owner of the machine was in the process of moving to Lugoff.
An east Camden woman reported that she was assaulted by two other women while she was holding her 1-year-old child in her arms. The woman said her boyfriend instigated the July 27 attack.
Sometime between midnight and 10 a.m. July 21, someone stole a silver, two-door 2000 Honda Accord from where it was parked on Porter Road in the Cassatt area.
Sometime between 11 p.m. July 26 and 4 a.m. July 27, someone came onto a Tanger Court, Elgin property and removed an 8-foot by 5-foot trailer.
On July 25, someone entered an unsecured Woods Lane, Lugoff home and stole a recently purchased 49-inch television set.
County deputies also dealt with recent cases involving breach of peace, child custody dispute, driving under suspension, financial transaction fraud, fraudulent checks, harassment, larceny, malicious injury to property, missing person, possession of marijuana, possession of methamphetamine, possession of controlled substances, public disorderly conduct, road rage, second-degree burglary, stolen dog, third-degree assault and battery, third-degree domestic violence, trespassing, unlawful use of telephone, use of a vehicle without owner’s consent, vandalism, and various traffic offenses.
(KCSO reports are provided under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. Subjects are considered innocent until proven guilty.)
