Police Blotter - April 25, 2019

The following cases were filed with the Charleston Police Department’s Team 5 between the dates of April 4, 2019 and April 18, 2019.

EMBEZZLEMENT
On April 4, a downtown Daniel Island business discovered their company credit card had been charged over the last three months for over $21,000. The complainant stated that in reviewing the charges, she expected them to be fraudulent. An employee was terminated on suspicion of fraudulent charges.

FOUND PROPERTY
On April 4, a school on Daniel Island performed an administrative search on the student body. An administrator found a bag of a small green substance inside a vehicle. The school handled the incident internally and gave the substance to CPD for disposal. No charges were filed.

IDENTITY THEFT
A man entered the Team 5 office on April 5, stating that he discovered an unauthorized loan through a credit union for more than $20,000. The credit union was out of state. The victim had not lost any money, but the incident affected his credit.

IMPERSONATION
On April 3, reported on April 16, an unknown party used a victim’s information to open a cell phone account. The cell phone company was not able to provide any additional information to the victim.

LARCENY
On April 17, a victim came to the Team 5 office to alert them to a missing stamp collection. The complainant had received the collection while out of the country and mailed it to his residence in the U.S. When it arrived, he returned home to find that the package was opened and the collection was missing.

THEFT FROM A BUILDING
An officer was dispatched to a Daniel Island hotel in response to a past theft complaint. The victim stated that an unknown party entered her room and stole her wallet. Some items in the wallet were removed by the victim before it was stolen. The theft occurred between April 5 and April 6, but was reported on the latter day.
In a separate case, a woman told CPD that sometime between the end of February and the beginning of April her Pierce Park home was entered by an unknown party. About $600 worth of jewelry was stolen from the house. Officers were alerted to the complaint on April 9.
In the Edgefield Park neighborhood, on March 15, a man realized that his handgun was missing from his home. He spent several weeks looking for it before reporting it to CPD.

THEFT OF MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS OR ACCESSORIES
A license place was stolen from a vehicle along Clements Ferry Road on the evening of April 11. It was reported to CPD on April 12.

ABANDONED VESSEL
On April 13, two members of CPD harbor patrol received word about an abandoned sailboat on the Wando River. The boat was almost completely submerged during high tide.

BICYCLE THEFTS
At a school on Daniel Island, a bike was stolen between April 5 and April 6. The bicycle was left over night and the student realized it was missing on the morning of April 6.
Between April 6 and April 7, at an apartment complex on Daniel Island, a bicycle was stolen from a bike rack. The lock that secured the bike was cut. The theft is still under investigation. At the same location, in the same time frame, another bike was stolen. Officers believe the two incidents could be affiliated.
At an apartment complex on Daniel Island, officers responded on April 9 to a call about a stolen adult tricycle. The theft is believed to have occurred between April 6 and April 8.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
On the afternoon of April 6, at an apartment on Daniel Island, officers responded to a call about a verbal dispute. The female party stated that her spouse hit her in the leg with a piece of jewelry and tightened a towel around her neck. The offender stopped when the victim told him to. Officers saw no visible injuries on the victim, who did not want to press charges. However, the offender made statements about the incident, leading officers to arrest him.

DRIVING UNDER INFLUENCE
At the Volvo Car Stadium, a contractor working on the property crashed a golf cart into a vehicle. The employee was found to be under the influence of alcohol. The event took place on April 7 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

GENERAL INFORMATION
On April 7, a verbal argument transpired between a civil service processor and a resident of the Beresford Creek Landing subdivision. The encounter began when the processor attempted to serve civil service documents to the resident.

NARCOTICS ARRESTS
Berkeley County announced on April 9 that a seven-month joint community enforcement initiative had resulted in 45 narcotics-related arrests in the tri-county area. Fifteen of the arrests were in Berkeley County. The captures were made thanks to an extended drug narcotics investigation involving multiple agencies. From the arrests made in the county, deputies seized 14 ounces of heroin, 11 pounds of methamphetamines, 92 illegal firearms and $106,000 in cash.
“This investigation has gone beyond the tri-county area to actually Mexico,” stated Sheriff Duane Lewis. “We all know that’s where a large percentage of our illegal narcotics is coming into the country, and we’re not immune from it here in the Tri-County area or Berkeley County.”
“What we are seeing across the country is really unbelievable with the opioid crisis,” noted 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson. “We want the people to realize it’s not just people going out there and partying, people are out there dying. These drugs are out there killing people.”
“If you are a drug dealer, if you are a drug distributor, you are a majority contributor to this problem and we as a unified law enforcement front will pursue you with every resource we have to stop you from killing our fellow citizens,” said Charleston DEA Agent in Charge Jason Sandoval.