Police Reports: Stray Bullets Strike Vehicles

Bullets Strike Cars on Rifle Range Road

Someone was shooting at vehicles in the Mount Pleasant area. Two individuals recently reported to police that their vehicles were damaged by stray bullets along Rifle Range Road.

The first report came Oct. 14 when a restaurant owner waved down police to report that his customers noticed someone was driving around in a green Ford Explorer, firing a gun in the area, reports indicate.

Nearby, a Columbia, S.C., man told the responding officer that stray bullets had damaged his windshield, the report states. A nearby resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told the officer that he thought several young men were firing a .22-cal handgun at vehicles.

The next day, an Isle of Palms man came to the police department to report that his vehicle had also been hit by gunfire along Rifle Range Road. Police observed a half-inch hole in the rear of the vehicle that could have been caused by a small-caliber gun, the report states.

Officer Spooks Shoplifting Gang

Shoplifters have long targeted the meat section at local grocery stores, but the Proprietors Place Walmart has apparently been struck by some fairly sophisticated shoplifting gangs who take the crime to a whole new level.

On Oct. 12, a Mount Pleasant police officer walked up on the suspected shoplifters and didn’t even realize it, a report states. Just being in the store caused the crooks to scram, the store’s manager reported.

When the officer entered the store, all five shoplifters were loading a shopping cart with frozen meat in the store’s clothing section, the report states.

The manager “advised that suspects shoplifting frozen meat commonly go to the clothing section or the pet food section, transfer the meat and other products to tote bags … and then leave,” the officer wrote in his report.

The officer, who was in the store on an unrelated matter, scared the shoplifters and they fled. The store’s manager realized what was happening the next day while reviewing surveillance footage. He told the officer the unidentified gang had hit the store at least once previously.

Slick Criminal Makes off with Grease

Asian Flavor restaurant reported to police that someone made off with its 55-gallon used grease storage drum earlier this month.

At first, the Johnnie Dodds restaurant thought the container was simply being cleaned or emptied by the company that handles their used cooking oil. But after a few days, they realized the huge metal container had simply been stolen.

Cooking oil thefts have been on the rise since at least 2008, according to the New York Times. Criminals can sell the oil, which is refined and used in biodiesel, for as much as $2.50 a gallon, depending on market prices. It’s a problem noticed across the country, according to FoxNews.

Two Arrests and a Funeral

Funerals at times bring out the worst in families, and that was the case on Oct. 17 when Mount Pleasant police arrested two men who had apparently engaged in a fist fight at the J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Home in Mount Pleasant.

Police arrived at the funeral home and observed one man with a busted nose and a bloody shirt, the report states. The suspects couldn’t come to an agreement not to press charges, so officers arrested them both on simple assault charges, the report states.

The men, ages 55 and 60, are apparently related through marriage. They have a long-standing dispute that includes name-calling and other accusations, among other issues, a family member told police.