Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) deputies arrested two men on meth trafficking and distribution charges following a traffic stop on Jan. 31.
According to a post on its Facebook page, the KCSO charged Joseph Meade, 18, of Elgin, with trafficking meth, unlawful carry of a pistol, and commission of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. The KCSO also charged Shamsud-Din Ali Samuel, 42, of Columbia, with possession with intent to distribute meth.
During the last two weeks, the KCSO also shared the following information via its Facebook page:
• Jan. 18 -- Deputies arrested Tranham Martise Woodward Jr., 20, of Irmo, for an armed robbery that took place in Elgin on Jan. 5. The robbery involved the internet sale of a rifle where the victim allowed a stranger -- later identified as Woodward -- to meet him at his residence. Woodward allegedly presented a handgun and stole the victim’s rifle and cell phone. The KCSO identified Woodward as a documented gang member from Irmo “with an extensive criminal history.” KCSO investigators coordinated with the Richland County Midlands Gang Task Force to identify and apprehend Woodward. The KCSO reminds citizens that it provides a safe Internet Purchase Exchange Location with video monitoring at its headquarters’ parking lot in Lugoff, 821 Ridgeway Road.
• Jan. 31 -- The KCSO drug unit executed a search warrant on Dixon Road, Elgin, and arrested Brandon Steven Dixon, 30, of Elgin, for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (third offense), possession with intent to distribute cocaine (third offense), possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance within proximity of a school, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, and possession of marijuana. The drug unit also seized a rifle and a handgun during the execution of the warrant.
• Feb. 2 -- Several deputies responded to a burglary of a business in the 500 block of Wildwood Lane at around 3 a.m. The KCSO dispatched its tracking team to the scene, resulting in the arrest of four juvenile suspects.
East Camden chase
A Camden man is facing multiple charges from the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office and S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP) following a short vehicle and foot chase through east Camden on Jan. 6.According to Kershaw County Detention Center and Kershaw County Clerk of Court online records, Kyle Everett Phillips, 32, of Branham Avenue, Camden, is charged by the KCSO with failure to stop for blue lights and receiving stolen goods valued between $2,000 and $10,000. SCHP troopers charged Phillips with driving under suspension, open container and DUI.
According to a KCSO report, a deputy traveling south on U.S. 1 near the east Camden IGA saw a truck pull into the median and begin flashing his lights. When the deputy went to check, a man jumped out of the truck and said that Phillips was driving the black car that had been behind him and was harassing him. The deputy reported that as he saw the witness’ truck pull into the median, he also saw Phillips’ black Nissan Maxima swerving in the roadway and following too closely. Other deputies had already been looking for Phillips for allegedly threatening another man in the area.
Knowing that Phillips had a suspended driver’s license, the deputy made a U-turn and activated his blue lights in order to stop him. However, the deputy reported that Phillips accelerated and made an abrupt turn onto Skyview Drive. The deputy followed Phillips on to Bradley Road where Phillips reportedly turned into a driveway and wrecked into a tree. By the time the deputy caught up, Phillips had reportedly jumped out of the vehicle and was fleeing on foot, heading back toward the roadway through some woods.
Another deputy pulled on to Bradley Road, cutting off Phillips and preventing him from fleeing. He reportedly gave up and went to the ground after being told if he didn’t stop, they would deploy their Tasers. While arresting him, deputies reported being able to detect the strong odor of alcohol coming from Phillips and that his eyes were bloodshot. A probable cause search of the Maxima turned up half-full, cold to the touch can of light beer, and Phillips reportedly admitted to drinking two 24-ounce light beers prior to the chase. Due to the wreck, SCHP troopers were called to the scene, leading to their charges.
The incident report did not indicate why the KCSO charged Phillips with receiving stolen goods.
Other recent arrests:
Deputies arrested Mark Anthony Davis, 51, of Lakeview Circle, Lugoff, on Jan. 18 and charged him with manufacturing methamphetamine and disposal of methamphetamine waste. As of Monday, online court records show a judge set bond at $13,000. The Kershaw County Detention Center no longer lists him as being held. According to a KCSO report, when deputies arrested Davis, in his car they found “the common compounds, chemical and precursors” to producing meth as well as the finished product. Deputies also found a “one pot” meth lab under the hood of the car. Throughout a wooded area where Davis was located, deputies found about 60 waste bottles that mainly consisted of hydrochloric gas generators. According to the report, deputies first learned about Davis’ activities when a KCSO sergeant was at the BP station at U.S. 521 and Wall Street near I-20 when a citizen approached him and said that as they were getting off the exit, they noticed what turned out to be Davis’ car backed up into a wooded area. The sergeant went to check and found the vehicle back into the woods just down the hill from the interstate of an unfinished dirt road behind Central Carolina Technical School and the unfinished Woolard Technology Center. The sergeant then heard a voice and located Davis with what later turned out to be a BB gun holstered around his waist. The sergeant called for narcotics agents and other deputies, who assisted him in detaining Davis. Deputies found a jacket in the car with a small amount of powder meth in a zippered container in one of the pockets. The container also held industrial paper towels that can be used as filters as well as a straw, presumably for snorting the meth. In the car’s trunk, deputies found a 5-gallon bucket containing the chemicals and equipment used for making meth, including a funnel, baby bottles, tubing with meth residue, peroxide, Coleman fuel, crystal lye Drano, a Coca-Cola bottle with salt, another bottle with a clear acidic liquid and another bottle of liquid drain opener. Davis reportedly told deputies he has been working as an electrician on the new technology center, and reportedly admitted to purchasing Sudafed to make the meth. The KCSO contacted the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division as well as a hazmat cleanup crew out of Spartanburg to clean up all material related to the meth lab.
Deputies arrested Ashley Nicole Drummond, 33, of Furlong Downs Street, Lugoff, on Jan. 14 in connection with a shooting incident at the residence just after midnight on Jan. 8. Deputies charged Drummond with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, possession of a stolen pistol, and unlawful neglect of a child or helpless person. According to a KCSO report, a deputy was patrolling portions of east Camden when dispatchers advised Camden Police Department officers were after a vehicle that was not stopping. Deputies caught up to the vehicle as it turned onto Lakeshore Drive, managed to stop it and met with Drummond who reportedly crying and appeared to be extremely upset. She said she had been speeding in an effort to get to the hospital because her boyfriend had been shot and was in the backseat. Deputies looked in the back of the vehicle, and found a man lying in the back seat with blood covering his pants. Deputies had Drummond follow them to the hospital. While being treated, the victim said he had been at Drummond’s home and ended up getting shot in the leg but that he didn’t know who had shot him or even whether it was outside or inside the home. Drummond told deputies she was a having a party in conjunction with a championship football game, but claimed not to have known what happened -- only that her boyfriend had been shot and that she had to get him to the hospital. A deputy went back to the scene and spoke with three men who had been at Drummond’s residence. Although their stories were reportedly “vague,” they all claimed that Drummond had fired the gun, wounding her boyfriend. The incident report did not detail exactly how deputies arrived at their charges and arrested Drummond.
Deputies charged Jessica Dawn Prewitt, 32, of Oakview Drive, Lugoff, with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, discharging a firearm into a vehicle while occupied and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. According to a KCSO incident report, deputies responded to Prewitt’s residence around 1:30 p.m. Jan. 9 in reference to a shooting. When deputies arrived, they found Prewitt’s husband holding her down by straddling her chest and holding her arms. Deputies also saw that Prewitt was holding a pink and black handgun in her right hand. After removing the firearm and detaining the Prewitt, deputies spoke with her husband. He said his wife had not been living at home, but at a “boyfriend’s” house. He admitted to going to the Oakland Drive residence, flattening the tires to a car allegedly registered in his name and calling for it to be towed as a repossession. He alleged that after getting back into his work van, his wife came out from around the side of the house brandishing the gun, threatened to kill him and shot out the van’s tires. He said he waited until she had fired the final round and could see that the slide of the handgun was locked to rear before tackling his wife. Upon being questioned at the scene, Prewitt reportedly admitted to shooting the van’s tires but not to threatening her husband.
On Dec. 10, a family living on Old Stagecoach Road in east Camden reported that someone stole an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), two weed trimmers and a chainsaw from the back of their property. A responding deputy found some vehicle tracks in the grass and mud that showed a vehicle pulled in and did a short circle to get back round to the shed and ATV. A camera in the shed provided footage of a dark, possibly black, two-door Ford F-250 with black rims towing a large black enclosed trailer pull up during daylight hours. According to the report, an African-American male could be seen exiting the driver’s seat and looking at the ATV. A second African-American male exited the passenger side, walked off camera and then appeared with the weed trimmers and chainsaw. The men are also seen loading up a large generator into the back of the pickup before leaving. According to the report and online Kershaw County Clerk of Court information, one of the two suspects is a 36-year-old Columbia man deputies arrested the next day with grand larceny between $2,000 and $10,000. The report lists the other suspect as being from Marion, but there are no indications deputies have arrested him.
Deputies arrested a 25-year-old east Camden man on Jan. 10 on petty and grand larceny charges as well as a charge of property damage to obtain nonferrous metals disrupting communication or electrical services. According to a Dec. 27, 2018, incident report, a deputy met with a supervisor at Prestage Farms’ plant on U.S. 1 in Cassatt about a possible larceny. There, the supervisor said they had just terminated the suspect, who had left on foot toward U.S. 1 just before the deputy arrived. Allegedly, the suspect had been stripping copper in one of the plant’s rooms and possibly damaging a $9,000 piece of machinery for copper and silver. Managers also found a wrench that did not belong at the plant near the dissembled device. On Dec. 28, the supervisor told the deputy that the suspect had sent text messages stating where the items he had taken were located. The supervisor also said other items containing copper were missing or destroyed.
Deputies charged an 18-year-old woman from Kershaw with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature after allegedly striking at least one juvenile girl with her vehicle during an argument on Haigs Creek Drive on the evening of Jan. 7.
