Friday, August 31, 2012

Man shoots himself showing the TV 'how it's done.'

Conway man dies in accidental shooting

- vgrooms@thesunnews.com
CONWAY -- Horry County police officers responded to a shooting incident on Wayside Road Thursday night, where one man was found dead, according to a report from the Horry County Police Department.

When officers entered the home, they found a man lying face down on a fan with a pool of blood around his head and a black revolver next to his right hand, the report said. The victim was identified as James Gagum, 43, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses said the victim was in the recliner and had been watching a movie, then picked up his gun, held it to his head and stated, “That’s not how its done,” the report said. He began pulling the trigger when, on the third pull, the gun went off.

Sgt. Robert Kegler, public information officer with Horry County police, said the shooting was accidental.
Gagum was in the news last spring when he shot and killed one of three suspects who broke into his home, threatening him and his wife at gunpoint and demanding money and valuables, Kegler said. Gagum did not face charges in the incident.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Woman who claimed she was robbed, shoved in trunk arrested for false police report

From the Charleston Post and Courier  

Christina Elmore

Police charged Natassja Ross  with filing a false police report and breach of trust over $2,000. 
Police charged Natassja Ross with filing a false police report and breach of trust over $2,000.
A woman who told North Charleston police a man shoved her in the trunk of her car Sunday and robbed her at an ATM now says she made the whole story up.
Police charged Natassja Ross, 27, with filing a false police report and breach of trust over $2,000, spokesman Spencer Pryor said.
The Mount Pleasant woman walked into a Carrabbas restaurant on Northwoods Boulevard about 9:40 p.m. and told employees that she was robbed at the Wells Fargo ATM across the street, a North Charleston police report said.
Ross told police a man walked up behind her while she rummaged through her trunk and shoved her into it, the report said.
The woman described the suspect as a white man with facial hair around his mouth who wore a black shirt and black pants with a blue ball cap, according to the report.
Ross said the man grabbed her “Motherhood Maternity” bag, which contained 10 bank deposit bags worth $2,000, and ran away, the report said.
Ross confessed to making up the story, Pryor said.
A bond hearing is scheduled for today.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Charleston SC had a bad day...


 http://i.imgur.com/BP6VX.jpg

CHARLESTON, SC (AP)  —

Torrential rains have caused widespread flooding in Charleston as up to 4 inches of rain flooded streets and stranded motorists.
The National Weather Service said an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain are possible through Tuesday afternoon and a flash flood warning remained in effect.
Police say numerous streets have been flooded, including those near the popular City Market and along U.S. 17 where it crosses the Charleston peninsula.
Emergency officials reported at least 20 stranded vehicles in the downtown area where crews had to help motorists out of their cars. The Citadel canceled evening classes because of concern the flooding would be aggravated by the early evening high tide.
The weather system is not related to Hurricane Isaac, which is moving toward landfall in Louisiana.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Gov. Haley refuses reporter answers

by William Moultrie  
Charleston, SC – South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has never had a problem picking favorites in the media, but on Wednesday she formalized her cozy arrangement with Charleston’s Post and Courier.
The Post and Courier insists it will continue the same balanced and fair coverage of the governor it has always maintained.

Starting immediately, the official press office for Governor Haley will be located at 134 Columbus Street in the offices of The Evening Post Publishing Company, parent company of the Post and Courier.
The Post and Courier was the only major newspaper in the state to endorse Haley’s candidacy for governor.
“It’s a great day in South Carolina,” said Haley, announcing the change from a podium in front of the building. “This administration is all about transparency, and what’s more transparent than sharing space with the highest circulation newspaper in our state?”
Neither the Evening Post Company nor the Post and Courier had any comment other than to say they are merely leasing surplus office space and that the arrangement would have no impact on their coverage of the Haley administration.

Earlier in the day Haley raised some eyebrows when she stated that she would not be answering any questions posed by Gina Smith, a reporter for The State newspaper.
Haley was insistant that the snub had nothing to do with her arrangement with the Post and Courier, stating that “I have always been open to questions from any fair-minded reporters, as long as they stick to the topics covered in my press releases. Reporters need to respect their place in the process, and that’s to report the news. I’m the governor, and if I say it’s not news, then it’s not news.”

Blotter: Genitalia swinging

Blotter: Genitalia swinging 

BLOTTER O' THE WEEK: A man was arrested after picking a fight with a bouncer and failing to pay for 28 vodka drinks and eight energy drinks at a bar. When he got to the prison and the staff strip-searched him for drugs, a police incident report states that he "began to dance and swing his genitalia wildly" at the guards.
After getting arrested for repeatedly punching her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend in a bar, a woman started kicking the cage and sides of the police cruiser that took her away. The car won the fight.
Bong o' the Week:A man fashioned a marijuana smoking device out of a pen and a plastic bottle.
Confession o' the Week: When police spotted a man carrying an open bottle of fortified wine in a paper bag, he blurted out, "I did something very, very, really, really stupid!"
While police were questioning a grocery store employee who was accused of going through unlocked cars in the parking lot, the employee reached into his shoe and pulled out a bevy of pills, including 25 lorazepam, one amlodipine besylate, three amphet salts, 10 alprazolam, and one escitalopram oxalate.
At a late-night driving checkpoint, police caught a whiff of alcohol fumes coming out of a man's open car window and asked him to get out of the vehicle. Turns out he was driving with a suspended license and a blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit. The clincher, though, was the open bottle of beer in the driver's side cup holder.
Someone broke into a house and stole a plasma TV, a DVD player, and a microwave oven — because you just can't watch movies on a stolen TV without a little stolen-microwave popcorn.
Vague Reason for a Police Stop o' the Week: Cops stopped a man on the street after seeing him "appear to put something in his backside," according to an incident report. They checked his ID, found out he had a family court warrant, and arrested him.
Police detained a man who was slobbering drunk (literally) who called an officer a racial epithet. EMS took the man to the hospital to get treatment for his intoxication, and the officer followed the ambulance there and placed a citation for disorderly conduct in the man's breast pocket.
Police stopped a man after watching him hang out in front of a barber shop with known drug dealers for 30 minutes and then cuss at a passing car. They asked the man what he'd been doing at the barber shop, and he said he was getting a haircut. The man was totally bald and had an untrimmed beard.
After drinking in a truck on the way home from the PGA Tournament, two men stepped out of their vehicle in front of a fire station and got in a fight with each other.
Stolen Item o' the Week: A $7,000 wristwatch with an alligator leather band.

The Blotter is taken from City of Charleston police department reports. We've added a cartoon and a little commentary. We've added a little humor, too. No one has been found guilty. This is not a court of law.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Your Charleston Blotter report

Courtesey of the Charleston City Paper 

by Paul Bowers



BLOTTER O' THE WEEK: Several high school students are accused of knocking over a lamppost, but they claim they were just walking by when the thing fell over on its own. Gravity can be tricky like that.

A stolen laptop computer was described as "silver in color with spots of paint on the keyboard." Sounds like someone needs to learn the basics of Microsoft Paint.

Squirrel Stash o' the Week: While searching a house for stolen property, police found marijuana in a kitchen cabinet, under a mattress, and in a hall closet.

A man with a $5 bill in his pocket stole a $1.69 can of beer from a store. Maybe he was on a budget.

Someone stole a piece of jewelry described as an "Alexander the Great ring."

An environmentally conscious shoplifter tried to steal groceries, cosmetics, and office supplies by putting them in reusable shopping bags and not paying for them at the cash register.

The Things They Shoplifted: A $75 bottle of perfume, a $6.99 four-pack of wine mini-bottles, a wife-beater shirt, two video game controllers, and a tuna sandwich.

A man was spotted in a downtown park with an open bottle containing Mountain Dew mixed with alcohol. That's not how you do the Dew.

In a bar fight, a man allegedly took a swing at his opponent and missed, hitting the face of a nearby woman.

When confronted in a parking lot, a drunk man said he was in town for a wedding and was staying at a nearby grocery store.

Fancy Car Bummer o' the Week: Police found a Porsche stuck in the marsh with muddy footprints leading toward the road.

Someone has been stealing cable and utility bills from a woman's mailbox. Paperless billing: It's a pretty good idea.

Rude House guest o' the Week: Someone appears to have broken into a garage, slept in some blankets on the floor, and slashed a tire on the homeowner's car with a box cutter.

Police confronted a man who was sitting on a bench in a park where he had previously been put on trespass notice, but he informed them, "I have diplomatic immunity from the state of Israel." The ambassador was arrested.

After getting pulled over for reckless driving, a woman told an officer, "I can call someone who is sober to come drive me."

Someone spray-painted "420" and a pot leaf on the rear driver side of a Berkeley County police cruiser.

Phone Threat o' the Week: "Don't talk shit to the dishwasher ... I'm going to beat your ass."

Drunk and Disorderly Quote o' the Week: When police knocked on a door after hearing music from half a block away, a man came out to tell them, "I know my music is really loud, but I like this song."

This Blotter is taken from City of Charleston police department reports. We've added a cartoon and a little commentary. We've added a little humor, too. No one has been found guilty. This is not a court of law.