GCSO Tackles Crime Rise in Southern End of County

If you've noticed a rise in crime in our part of Greenville County over the past year by reading Patch and other news media, it's not a coincidence. Crime has risen greatly in southern Greenville County, and the Greenville County Sheriff's Office has been working on it, a deputy said Wednesday.

The Sheriff’s Office recognized the need to take "aggressive action" in an effort to lower the crime rate, deputy Drew Pinciaro said Wednesday. From July 10-19, deputies from all divisions within the Sheriff’s Office participated in a “South End Task Force” to combat crimes in the southern end of the county by initiating several different types of proactive patrolling, which included locating suspects and witnesses and obtaining additional leads on active cases, according to Pinciaro. 

"Overall, this endeavor was a great success. Deputies arrested 112 suspects, issued 189 citations, seized 719 grams of illegal narcotics, seized 3 guns, and cleared 81 active cases," Pincicaro said in a news release.

At the beginning of the two week crackdown there were three active homicide investigations, according to Pinciaro. Deputies were able to clear one of those cases and obtain positive leads on the others. Additionally, an attempted murder case was also cleared when the task force located and arrested the suspect, Pinciaro said.

Though Pinciaro didn't provide details, one of the cleared cases was believed to be a murder in the vicinity of East Gantt near Mauldin that resulted in the arrest of a Simpsonville man and a Greenville man. 

Eighteen-year-old Marquis Syshawn Blassingame, of Simpsonville, and 17-year-old Michael Mclean Lee, of Greenville, are being held on charges of murder, armed robbery, conspiracy, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, GCSO investigators said.

The two men are accused of shooting and killing 31-year-old Darius Lee Williams in January at a home at 303 Springbrook Drive. During the course of a robbery, Williams was shot multiple times and died at the scene, investigators said.

"The long hours and hard work put in by the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office demonstrates their dedication to ensuring the safety of the citizens of Greenville County," Pinciaro said.