Columbia Teen Jailed for Breaking Into Apartment Complex

Lexington County Sheriff’s Department deputies say a Columbia teenager was arrested on Wednesday for breaking into a maintenance room and main office of a St. Andrews Road apartment complex.

Sterling Emmanuel Joyner, 19, of 7209 Frost Ave., Columbia, is charged with second-degree burglary in connection with a break-in at the Landmark Apartments located at 19 Landmark Drive, according to a department press release.

Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts said a deputy received information about 1 a.m. on Wednesday that two men had just broken into Landmark’s maintenance room and main office. Another deputy later saw two men running down a sidewalk along St. Andrews Road at a shopping center and was able to apprehend Joyner, but not the second man who hasn’t been identified.

Witnesses identified Joyner as one of the two men who broke into the maintenance room and the main office, Metts said.

Joyner was being held on a $15,000 bond Thursday at the Lexington County Detention Center.        

Anyone with any information about additional criminal activity involving Joyner or information concerning the man who joined Joyner in the apartment complex burglary is asked to call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. You can also provide information anonymously by accessing the Crime Tip link.