Police Blotter - September 28, 2017

The following cases were taken from City of Charleston Police reports filed with Team 5 on Daniel Island between Aug. 15, 2017 and Sep. 13, 2017. This is part two of a two-part series.

Agency assist with an arrest
Team 5 responded to a residence on Daniel Island Drive in reference to a trespasser on Aug. 24. The complainant stated that the offender, who was a neighbor, had been coming into the victim’s home. According to the report, the complainant wanted the offender placed on trespass notice. Police went to the offender’s house and checked him for warrants. It turned out he had a bench warrant for Mount Pleasant. The offender was detained and turned over to Mount Pleasant police.

Lost and found property
Officers responded to a report of a possible theft on Aug. 29 at a house in the Etiwan Park neighborhood. The complainant advised that her diamond ring was left on a kitchen counter. According to the report, the complainant stated that a service provider had come in and out of the house a time or two and at one point the complainant looked at the kitchen counter and her ring was gone. The complainant called Team 5 and officers spoke with the service provider and supervisor. The officers conducted consent searches and could not find the ring. After they left, the complainant called Team 5 and said the ring had been found sitting in the garbage can.

Burglary
A burglary report was taken on Aug. 30 in reference to a theft involving thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry from a residence in Daniel Island Park between Aug. 25 and 28. The victim stated that she had jewelry in the bottom drawer of her master bathroom vanity, but after returning from a trip she realized that the jewelry was missing. According to the report, there was no forced entry to the residence. The victim stated that she had left a key for the caretaker outside the house, but that she has “absolute trust” in the caretaker. There’s also a tenant in the detached garage who was home all weekend, but does not have regular access to the residence, according to the report.
Between Aug. 22 and the 29, several guns were stolen from a residence in Barfield Park. According to the report, there was a room over the garage that had several shot guns in a gun cabinet. However, even though the cabinet was locked, the key was left on top of the gun cabinet. The entrance to the room over the garage was not damaged. The keys to the regular house also fit the keys to the garage.

Recovered stolen vehicle
Police were contacted on Aug. 30 after an unrecognized vehicle had been abandoned in Pierce Park for a couple days. When police ran the tags, it turned out to be reported stolen from MUSC. The vehicle was towed and processed by the crime scene unit.
“I believe in that incident, that vehicle had been left unlocked and running,” said Byrne. “…We still don’t know why (the suspect) chose to come out here or if they made other stops. We believe that the same subject is responsible for many things around the area.”

Telephone harassment
Police were alerted on Aug. 30 after a resident of the Peninsula subdivision off of Clements Ferry Road received phone calls from a party making threatening and intimidating statements. The offender is the boyfriend of the victim’s former roommate. The victim told police that he had never met the boyfriend. According to the report, there had been a recent “falling out” with his former roommates and the victim is concerned that the offender is trying to intimidate him.

Vandalism
Officers responded to a residence under construction at Edgefield Park in reference to vandalism. The complainant advised that someone had entered the building and sprayed spray paint on some of the wood and materials that had been installed. According to the report, there was a couple hundred dollars’ worth of damage. The complainant plans to prosecute.

Harassment
The complainant told police that between Aug. 1 and Aug. 28, his neighbor was harassing the victim and his family in the Codner’s Ferry Park neighborhood. He stated that the suspect called the complainant’s house 13 times in one afternoon and knocked on the door four different times.

General information
Team 5 was called to the Etiwan Park subdivision in the early morning of Sept. 2. The victim stated that she heard noises in the driveway, but did not see anything. She called her fiancé, who said she might need to check her vehicle because his ex-wife once put a GPS locater on his car, the report stated. She checked her vehicle and found a small plastic device with a magnet on one side hidden underneath the rear bumper of her car.
In a separate case, police were contacted in reference to a victim receiving threats over the internet. The victim and the subject went to high school together, but the victim now attends college out of town. According to the police report, the subject is severely autistic and was an acquaintance in high school. The subject reportedly made some threatening and unkind statements towards the victim. The family then became uneasy and asked for help in getting the subject some additional treatment and having contact stopped.
“It’s a criminal issue, but it’s not going to be treated as such because of the mental state of the subject,” said Byrne.

Disorderly conduct
Officers received a loud noise complaint from an apartment complex off of Clements Ferry Road and responded just after midnight on Sep. 3. When the officer arrived, the report stated that he heard loud music and knocked on the door several times. When they opened the door after the fifth time, the officers saw several minors inside. There was a strong odor of burnt marijuana and beer cans laying out in plain view, the report continued. The officer asked everybody to exit the residence but heard more noise from the back. The officer then asked the lease holder to walk back inside and get the people out of the back. The lease holder went in to the apartment and brought a male and female out from the back room. At which time, the male ran out the back of the residence and through the back porch door. Other officers were in the area and also responded to the call. One officer found the male trying to hide in the woods and he initially came back out when ordered to do so. He was then told he was being detained for further investigation, at which time he ran again. Officers were eventually able to catch him. No contraband or weapons were located. The offender ultimately was issued a citation for disorderly conduct and released on the scene.

Littering/dumping complaint
Police were alerted after an empty dumpster outside of one of the homes under construction in Edgefield Park was allegedly used as a dumping site by a resident. The complainant advised that the dumpster was empty on Sept. 6, when they left. On Sept. 8, they returned and found the dumpster almost completely full of “junk.” Some of the boxes had the name of the resident and their address on them, the report stated. The dumpster had a tarp across the top and the offender had thrown the trash on top of the tarp, damaging it. The suspects have to pay for the tarp as well as a fine for dumping, stated police. The company plans to prosecute.

Theft from a motor vehicle
A backpack blower was reported stolen on Sept. 12 at the Scott Park Pool. A contractor reported that somebody had taken a backpack blower out of the bed of their work pick-up truck. The vehicle was parked on Corn Planters Street. The blower was sitting in the bed of the truck for about 2.5 hours, according to the report. This case is still under investigation.