Welfare Check by Mauldin Police Yields Surprise

When performing a welfare check, Mauldin Police are nothing if not persistent. Because you just never know.

Take a recent such check at the Spinx gas station and convenience store on East Butler Road. Mauldin Police were called to the store this past Tuesday after someone had apparently gone into the men's room and never came out, according to a police incident report.

A shift supervisor told police someone entered the restroom and had been in there for at least 25 minutes without coming out. The supervisor said he kept knocking and knocking without a response, prompting concern, since the door only locks from the inside and utilizes a slide bolt, the report said.

The concerned supervisor, obviously fearing the worst, called a district manager and, before calling police, got permission to use force to bust open the door, the report said.

When police arrived they, too, knocked several times in order to arouse a response, but to no avail. Ultimately, police procured a crowbar and went to work on the door, eventually prying it open, the report said.

Inside they found…nothing. Fortunately, instead of a sick, injured, or possibly deceased individual, police discovered that the door's handle had somehow, inexplicably, malfunctioned and jammed the door closed.

Whew!