Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Crime blotter: Three teen girls caught fighting

Shoplifting | On Nov. 2 in the Carolina Forest area, a store employee saw a man who appeared to be in his 20s take a cell phone charger off a shelf and put it in his pants. He had another cell phone charger in his hand. The employee told him to put the items back. He put the one in his hand down but ran out of the store with one still in his pants. The employee gave police a description of his vehicle and its license number. Police went to the address where the vehicle was registered but were unable to make contact with anyone. They got a photo of the registered owner to show to the employee and planned to review the video and continue the investigation.

Simple assault and battery | On Nov. 1 in Murrells Inlet, two girls, 19, were on top of a girl, 18, punching her while she was down in the street. When officers arrived, one girl ran. Officers found her hiding behind a tree, put both attackers in a police car and called EMS for the victim, who had lacerations and other injuries. The grossly intoxicated girl who ran started beating her head against the cage inside the car, cursing the officers and EMS. The victim said they were at a party, and when she was leaving, the others started beating her. The two attackers said they were not fighting her. The victim went to a hospital and one attacker went to jail. One of the attackers asked to go to a hospital because her head was hurting from beating it on the cage, then she beat her head against the cage on the way to the hospital, where she refused to be examined. A doctor checked her out and said she was medically fine. When officers tried to get her out of the hospital she resisted and started beating her head on the wall. The girl was placed in a wheelchair but remained unruly. Another officer arrived and helped get her in the car. On the way to jail, she got one of her handcuffs off and beat the car windows. She later freed herself of the other handcuff and tried to unlock the vehicle. When an officer tried to open the car door to re-handcuff her, she held the lock down. Another officer had to climb into the vehicle through its trunk to handcuff the girl. She also was put into leg irons then into a police van.

Public disorderly conduct/larceny | On Nov. 1 in the Carolina Forest area, a man, 25, refused to pay his cab fare of $19.95. The driver said the man went inside a house to drink a beer. When officers arrived, the man ran from the house and through a subdivision. Officers searched and found the grossly intoxicated man running down the street, trying to make it to his house. He was arrested.

Assault and battery | On Nov. 1 in Little River, a man, 52, said he and his brother-in-law, 51, had been drinking and arguing about money the night before and his brother-in-law pushed him down. He said that when he tried to get up, his brother-in-law punched him in the mouth and left. He did not realize the severity of the cut on his lip until the next morning. He said his brother-in-law was drunk, but he had only had a few. Police contacted the brother-in-law who said other man had been drunk, had "chest bumped" him, and he pushed him away. He said the complainant then told him he would kick his (behind) and he hit him in the mouth in self-defense and left. Due to conflicting accounts and the unreliability of accurate recollection from admitted alcohol consumption, no one was arrested.