Crime News | Post and Courier - Charleston, SC (2024)

A former Columbia mayoral candidate is being held on child sexual assault charges. Multiple law enforcement agencies sought warrants for his arrest on alleged assaults that took place between 2018 and 2023.

An exit ramp of Interstate 526 near Dorchester Road and Paramount Drive prone to erosion is closed indefinitely after Tropical Storm Debby washed out the road.

Divers found a submerged vehicle near the Brown's Ferry Landing in Georgetown County on Aug. 5. It held human remains and was registered to a Mount Pleasant man who went missing in 2015.

A Johns Island man was killed after a vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree in Hollywood.

State police arrested Lynn Evans Myers, 67, Aug. 2. Myers is accused of stealing about $51,000 from the St. George United Methodist Church she worked for.

Dorchester PAWS evacuated all of its cats and dogs in anticipation of Tropical Storm Debby's arrival. Debby is expected to bring historic rainfall to the region.

South Carolina's holding centers for juvenile offenders have been plagued with violence and unsafe conditions, a problem made worse by persistent overcrowding and understaffing.

A woman sued the owner of popular bar Local 616 after she was "catastrophically injured" after she contends the bar over-served a woman moments before a head-on collision on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in 2021.

A former Army soldier from Goose Creek will spend 20 years in prison after recording young girls performing sexual acts online. Federal prosecutors contend Evan Bucci, 23, psychologically abused the girls and groomed them so they would record themselves for him.

North Charleston Police arrested 27-year-old Mario Gene Williams in connection to a hit-and-run at Leeds Avenue and Dorchester Road that left a 63-year-old man critically injured.

A patient was injured in an officer-involved shooting at Lexington Medical Center on Aug. 2.No employees were harmed, and the patient suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Of the 32 men on South Carolina's death row,these six have exhausted all their main avenues for appealing their sentences.

A man was struck and killed by a vehicle in Goose Creek on the morning of Aug. 1. No criminal charges have been filed as the Goose Creek Police Department continues investigating.

A Columbia man was found dead at a local body shop after a verbal altercation the night prior turned deadly. The suspect escaped by vehicle before being spotted and arrested on July 31.

U.S. Marshals arrested 30-year-old Ryan D’Lorenzo Lewis of Charleston in Decatur, Ga., in connection with a July 5 shooting at the Bridgeview Apartments in downtown Charleston that left one dead and two injured.

A three-day trial for a man accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at a birthday party on Easter weekend 2020 ended in a conviction and the maximum sentence.

Two weeks after a judge determined there is probable cause two men contributed to the deaths of 20-year-olds Lizzy Zito and Arianna Gamber in April 28 hit-and-runs on Morrison Drive, police are asking for DNA of one of the defendants.

A Summerville man, 23-year-old Demontae Jones, was arrested on Aug. 1 and charged with four counts of attempted murder after a drive-by shooting in Ladson that occurred the day before.

The victim of a stabbing that happened in Beaufort County's Oyotunji African Village has been identified as the village's leader, Adegbolu Abiogemo Adefunmi. The assailant has been confirmed as Adefunmi's sister.

A portion of Stall Road is closed due to a vehicle collision and downed power lines.

Former Charleston County sheriff's deputy Jason Barry is asking for a continuance, possibly delaying the trial. He has been indicted on reckless homicide and was scheduled to stand trial next month, more than four years after he was involved in fatal crash.

A Florence County deputy shot and killed a suspect in May. Months after being placed on leave, he's been charged with domestic violence and fired from law enforcement.

Former ballet dancer Ashley Benefield, on trial for second-degree murder in Manatee County, Fla., was found guilty on July 30 of the lesser charge of manslaughter in the 2020 killing of her husband Doug Benefield.

Malachi Wigfall will remain in jail indefinitely while he waits for a trial or plea deal for the 2021 gang-related shooting that injured 14 people in the crossfire, killing 14-year-oldRonjanae Smith.

A suspect is in custody after a reported stabbing at the Oyotunji African Village in Sheldon. The victim was transported to an area hospital but later died of his injuries.

A man was arrested in relation to an alleged sexual assault at a West Ashley Planet Fitness. He was released on a $5,000 bond.

18-year-oldThaao Stevens from Summerville was shot to death in Lincolnville on July 25.

SLED announced the arrest of three suspects in Beaufort County alleged to haveharbored an escaped convict. The escapee, Jaquan Barnes, had been detained on human trafficking charges.

Summerville police charged a man with attempted murder July 26 for allegedly shooting at SWAT team members.

Michael Leibowitz, a 71-year-old Charleston native, was killed July 25 when a plane he was flying crashed at an airport in the coastal town of Trenton, Maine.

By one estimate, the city has a sex-trade that rivals that of Miami and New York, but law enforcement has no way to go after the North Charleston motels that facilitate it, according to a former U.S. attorney.

The defendant obtained custody of five dogs after 23 were seized by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office on July 11. The remaining dogs are in care of the Charleston Animal Society, which is arranging for their adoptions and fostering.

An 18-year-old woman was shot to death on Wadmalaw Island. Here's what to know.

Ashley Benefield and her husband, Doug Benefield, started the American National Ballet, which was based in Charleston. But lack of funding ensured the project was short-lived. Behind the scenes, the Benefields were in trouble.

The girlfriend of Brittanee Drexel's killer,Raymond Moody, has admitted to lying to federal investigators and could serve up to a decade in prison for those crimes, according to court records filed this week.

A fallen tree prompted a road closure on Chisolm Road near Sunny Brook Drive on Johns Island. The roadway will be closed for an extended period of time.

Crash slowing traffic on Interstate 526 and I26

In a contempt hearing, an Oconee County judge said that Nathan Chambers, charged with impersonating a lawyer, might have used AI technology to write his filings.

After grooming a 12-year-old York County girl on social media, a since-convicted North Carolina man had Uber bring her and a friend across the state line to his house so he could rape her, a lawsuit against the ride-hailing behemoth alleges.

A federal grand jury charged two men in connection to a May robbery at Palmetto State Armory. One of the men led police on a cross-county chase and barricaded himself in an apartment.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is investigating two overnight shootings that left four people injured. It is unclear whether the shootings were related.

A South Carolina man who admitted to spraying a line of officers with bear spray as rioters breached the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, will spend time in prison.

A 26-year-old Walterboro man was arrested in connection to the fatal shooting near a playground on South Street. The arrest comes after over a month of investigation by Charleston police.

A bicyclist was struck and killed near the intersection of Ben Sawyer Boulevard and Rife Range Road on July 21. No charges have been filed.

Changes are coming to Morrison Drive less than three months after two pedestrians were run over while walking alongside the road.

Tyler Bradley Dykes, a 26-year-old Bluffton resident, was sentenced to 57 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Police shared that one of the drivers in the April 28 hit-and-run on Morrison Drive drank beforehand at Sweet Grass Vodka, but questions swirl how if the owner, Jarrod Swanger, didn't have a liquor license.

An adult was killed and two juveniles were injured when they were struck by a truck along Forty-One Road in Berkeley County on July 19. SCHP is investigating.

The two lawsuits allege American Tactical and other defendants were negligent for their marketing, sale and distribution of high-capacity magazines.

Within two minutes of police arriving to a reported assault in Park Circle, Charleston drummer Quentin Ravenel had been shot multiple times from front and behind.

While violent crime overall in North Charleston has declined, three shootings in less than 24 hours on July 18 highlight the area's stubborn murder and assault rate.

A 39-year-old man fled to South Carolina after he allegedly attempted to shoot a police officer in Georgia.

A Charleston police trainee was placed on paid administrative leave after firing his gun during an arrest at the West Ashley Apartment Complex. The man who prompted the call was arrested for first degree burglary.