Sandlot scuffle

Police responded to the Isle of Palms municipal parking lot after numerous citizens reported an assault in progress. Upon arrival, several citizens pointed to an SUV attempting to leave the parking lot, which was reportedly driven by the suspect.

The vehicle, which was occupied by two male subjects, was stopped and both were detained until it was determined that the driver was the suspect in the assault. The incident began between two male subjects, the suspect and the victim, who had a verbal altercation while walking from the beach to the parking lot.

Once in the parking lot, the altercation escalated to a shouting match, which resulted in some punches being thrown, and culminated when the suspect went into his vehicle and retrieved a wooden baseball bat and struck the male subject he had been arguing with in the head causing him to fall to the ground.

Several witnesses stated that once the victim fell to the ground the suspect struck the victim 10-15 times about the head and shoulders, then quickly attempted to exit the parking lot.

A second male victim, who fled the area, was later located and needed medical assistance for a broken arm and ribs.

The victim that had been on the ground staggered to Ocean Boulevard near 14th Avenue to summon assistance.

He was treated on the scene by fire department personnel and transported to MUSC by EMS. The suspect was arrested for the aggravated assault and transported to police headquarters for questioning.

Written statements were taken from numerous witnesses, which confirmed the incident was solely between the suspect and the two victims, with no additional involvement from anyone else. The suspect was charged with Attempted Murder and Minor in Possession of beer and transported to the detention center.

Lost

Several residents in Planters Place called police because a man was lurking around the neighborhood, cutting through their yards, walking up on their porches and just acting strangely in general. By the time police located the man he was lounging in a pool chair.

The officer walked up to him and asked him what he was doing at the pool.

He said he was just hanging out. The officer asked him for his driver's license and he handed the officer a movie theater gift card.

The officer handed the card back and asked him for his name and date of birth. He determined that the 30 year old man was a local resident of Mount Pleasant but lived in the Old Village.

The officer asked the man if he knew where he was and he said, "The I'On." He said he just left the bar in I'On. The officer told him he was in fact not in I'On. When the officer asked him if he was visiting someone in the neighborhood, he said, "My father lives here in The I'On. The officer had him stand up and search for his license and when he did he stumbled and almost fell into the pool. There was no doubt that he was hammered; however, he denied drinking or doing drugs.

None-the-less the officer took him in for public intoxication.

Marital bliss

A couple having marriage problems got into another argument because the husband wanted to go for a bike ride. The wife normally watches the children while he goes for a bike ride in the evenings. The argument escalated when he said he was going riding anyway.

He headed towards the garage and when he went to close the door he realized his wife had followed him and she grabbed the door before he could shut it and slammed it herself. Unfortunately for the husband, his arm was in the way.

He called police and explained to officers that they have been in marriage counseling but his wife is reluctant to go. He said he found an e-mail his wife wrote to a psychiatrist that said she hated him and wished he were dead. The e-mail said she is no longer afraid of her children growing up without their father and she said she wants him to vanish completely from her life. He said the e-mail said she has a fear of living the hard life by herself but also she feared living with him for the rest of her life.

He said his wife does not know he found the e-mail because it will cause more issues between them. However, he added, he is not in fear for his own safety.

The wife told the officer questioning her that they had gotten into an argument and her husband came at her foaming at the mouth. She said he told her to shut the door or he was going to call police. So she shut the door and he called the police anyway. No charges were pressed but both were given notice of protective measures.

Down the window

A woman ran a red light right in front of a police officer, but even worse, almost caused that police officer to get into a wreck because he had to slam on brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

He whipped his patrol car around and pulled the woman over. She said she was sorry and not paying attention when she entered the intersection.

The officer asked her for her driver's license but all she had was a vehicle registration and insurance. With puppy dog eyes she said did not want to go to jail.

The officer asked her why she would go to jail and she said because she was driving and had a suspended license for not paying tickets.

She begged the officer not to run her information and to just let her mom come and pick up the car.

The officer said he could not do that and she went on to say that she was in a child custody battle and "did not need this."

This charge was her third driving under suspension ticket.

The woman was arrested and handcuffed and placed in the patrol car with the air conditioner on high. The officer then waited for the tow truck to arrive and get her car.

She wanted the car turned over to her mother but since the car was not registered to her or her mother it had to be towed. The woman became very upset and started cursing and kicking the floorboard in the patrol car.

Then she started complaining that it was hot in the car and that she takes medicine that makes her hot. The officer said the air was on as high as it would go and offered to get her medical attention, but she declined.

She wanted him to roll down the windows but of course he could not do that because they aren't designed to go down.

He offered to open the door for her while they waited on the tow truck. When the tow truck got there she got mad again that he would not release the car to her mother.

The officer then shut the door so he could concentrate on finishing up the paperwork.

She banged on the window again and asked to open the doors and the officer explained to her that the air outside was much hotter than the air in the car.

The woman tried everything she could think of to avoid going to jail and to avoid her car being towed but throughout the whole process she was rude and obnoxious. The officer even went so far as to pull his patrol car under a tree in the parking lot to provide more shade on the car.

Even after that she demanded to speak to his supervisor. He arrived on the scene, listened to her complaint and then left.

The officer was finally able to get on the road to the jail and she complained the whole way there that she was hot. Again he offered her medical attention and she declined.

Several minutes passed and she said she could not believe that she asked for medical attention twice and did not receive it. The officer told her he never heard her ask for medical attention and said he could get it for her right then. She declined once again and said she did not need it anymore and that she was not going to talk to the officer anymore and she wanted her lawyer.

She said she just wanted to get to the jail to get out of the car.

Once at the jail the officer searched the back seat she had been sitting in, per department policy, and found pills in the seat. The officer requested a strip search of the woman and, low and behold, they found five pills in her vagina.

So much for her custody battle.

Sweet relief

An Isle of Palms officer stopped a car for equipment violation late at night. The man inside was wanted by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. He was imediately taken into custody and put in the back seat of the police car. While waiting, the man, who was not happy to be where he was, relieved himself in the back of the car. He was charged with malicious damage to city property and turned over to the custody of a Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy where he had to wait in his soiled pants.

Landscaper

Officers were called into an Isle of Palms restaurant where management reported a patron who refused to leave. When the man finally did leave, he decided to tear up the decorative plants in the front entranceway. The highly intoxicated man was out under arrest for Public Intoxication and Malicious Damage to Property.

Up to no good

Teen boys will be boys, but at 13, do they need to be drunk as skunks wreaking havoc? A patrol officer saw several trash cans and mailboxes knocked down on the side of the road on Ocean Boulevard. It took no time for the officer to see the culprits, who, when spotted, took off to the beach access path.

The boys, who had been drinking, were taken into custody. They were both charged with Disorderly Conduct, Minor With Illegal Consumption of Alcohol, Underage Possession of Tobacco, and at least 8 counts of Malicious Damage to Property. Both were later released to family members.

The boys were with family on vacation from another part of the state; guess the vacation did not bring as much relaxation as expected.

(The Police Blotter is intended to be a humorous column written from police reports obtained from local police departments. Many come from initial incident reports and supplemental reports. Generally, cases have not been adjudicated at the time of publication. See more columns at www.moultrienews.com.)