Police Blotter - August 24, 2017

The following cases were taken from City of Charleston Police reports filed with Team 5 on Daniel Island between July 18, 2017 and Aug. 14, 2017. This is part one of a two part report. Be sure to check out next week’s edition for the remaining cases.

Larcenies

Police responded to a report of a missing boat from an apartment complex on Daniel Island on July 22. The person who took the boat later notified the victim that he took the vessel because he had completed work on the boat and the victim had allegedly not paid. The case was referred to a civil court.

An unknown subject entered a locked entrance at the MarineMax Hall Marine store on Sportsman Island Drive and stole electronics from three boats on July 23 between 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. the next day. According to Team 5 Commander Lt. James Byrne, on the same night the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office reported a similar incident at Longshore Marine on Clements Ferry Road. Mount Pleasant also had a similar incident in their jurisdiction. Team 5 is working with both jurisdictions to try and identify the subject. This case is still under investigation.

In another larceny case, officers were advised that tools and multiple generators had been stolen from a storage trailer at a construction site on Fairchild Street between Aug. 1 and 2. The complainant spoke with one of the employees who indicated that he had taken the tools because he was not being compensated properly and did not show up the next day. This is still under investigation.

Disorderly conduct cases

A Team 5 officer was working an off duty position on the island on July 22 when he noticed a man staggering down the roadway on Island Park Drive. When the officer confronted the man, he did not know where he was and smelled of alcohol and urine, according to the report. He was cited and taken to the Berkeley County jail for disorderly conduct.

Police responded to a restaurant on Seven Farms Drive just before 2 a.m. on July 31 after the manager advised that a customer had been harassing a waitress. The officers met with the suspect and placed him on trespassing notice and asked him to leave. After profanities and disruption, the suspect was arrested and taken to the Berkeley County Detention Center where he was charged with disorderly conduct.

An off duty officer was attending a concert at Volvo Car Stadium on Aug. 4 when he noticed a man attempting to climb over a railing from the seated area to the floor area of the venue without a ticket. The officer notified event staff who escorted him back out of the area. The suspect made multiple additional attempts to gain entry and was noticeably intoxicated, stated the officer. The subject was later arrested and, with resistance, he was taken to jail.

In a separate case, Team 5 was alerted after a complainant’s husband picked up their child for a visit. The complainant advised that the husband was being loud and boisterous, disturbing the neighbors and making vague threats about getting his property and his children. The husband never entered the property. The husband and child left the area before the officer arrived.

Larceny by false pretenses/Swindling

A complainant told officers that in May of this year, she and her husband went onto Craigslist.com to search for a condo in a neighboring jurisdiction. The complainant advised that they needed the condo for a short time while her husband was doing some work in the area. They found one they liked on Craigslist and made contact with the seller/offender. They received a contract and sent a check in the amount of the deposit. The complainant advised that the husband did not end up doing work on the island and that they no longer needed the condo. The offender said that they were going to refund the money and sent them a check for three times the original amount that they had deposited and asked them to deposit the amount into their checking account. They did so and found out that there were insufficient funds in the check. This case is still under investigation.

Thefts from motor vehicles

Police were notified on July 27 that a firearm had been stolen out of a glove box of an unlocked vehicle in the Peninsula subdivision off Clements Ferry Road between 7 a.m. July 26 and the morning of July 27. A pair of sunglasses and miscellaneous items were also taken. Lt. Byrne advised that a second unlocked vehicle in the area had been entered as well.

In another case, police were notified after a complainant advised that a pistol was taken from the unlocked glove box in his car on River Landing Drive on Daniel Island between July 21 and Aug. 1. This is still under investigation.

Thefts from buildings

Team 5 was called to a hotel on Fairchild Street on the morning of July 31 in reference to a theft from a building. The victim advised that she set her purse down in the dining room while getting breakfast before checking out. She stated that she saw an employee walk by her purse and then into the kitchen with something in her hand. When the victim checked her purse, she noticed that a wallet had been stolen with a large sum of money and credit cards. The victim approached the employee and asked if she had taken the wallet. The employee denied it. The employee was later questioned. The officer asked if he could check her car because she had been going back and forth to her car. She said no. This is still under investigation.

A report was taken on Aug. 10 in reference to a theft from a building that occurred between July 12 and 27. The victim advised that his estranged wife and several of her family members took items from the house sometime between the July 14 and 27. The wife and her parents had previously lived in the house and had keys. The victim produced a court order that entitles him to exclusive rights to property that was issued on July 12 and certified on July 27. The victim advised that he had been out of town for about two weeks and returned to find his estranged wife and her father removing furniture from the house. The husband advised that he entered the front of the building, which was secure, but the screen and the backdoor were unlocked. The victim’s father also notified him that there were pictures on Facebook of the estranged wife loading and taking furniture from the house.