Clinton Public Safety officers were dispatched to Walden St, Clinton Sunday night in reference to an armed robbery. Upon
arriving on Walden Street, Officers were flagged down by the complainant who stated
she had allegedly just been robbed at gun point of her purse which contained
approx. $2,400 by a male wearing a red shirt. The subject had reportedly just
run up the street in the direction of Bond Street.
Officers called for back-up and proceed in the direction of the subject.
A man matching the description of the subject was observed, but was lost out of
sight. A vehicle was observed and made officers believe that the subject could
have possible been inside the vehicle.
Felony Car stop was conducted by officers and as the vehicle was
approached from the passenger side, two subjects were observed but neither
matched the description given by the complainant. Officers did observe in the
vehicle a blue cloth crown royal bag in the console area and in plain sight was
a clear plastic bag, containing a green leafy substance that was believed to me
marijuana.  One subject reportedly told
officers his Uncle had left the marijuana in there before handing the bag over.  Upon looking in the Crown royal bag another clear
plastic bag was observed along with more loose green leafy substance material.
Due to numerous arrests involving the subject resulting in convictions both
subjects were taken from the vehicle, while doing so an open bottle of gin was
recovered as well. Both subjects were then placed under arrest. While the subjects
were being taken into custody, dispatched was called by a concerned citizen who
stated a subject wearing a red shirt was observed running through her back
yard, stopping to take off his shirt and then continued running wearing a
different color shirt. As officers were talking with the concerned citizen and
a relative of the citizen, the subject that ran from officers was observed
coming out of a trailer and then getting into a blue colored vehicle.  As officers were about to conduct a felony
car stop  on the vehicle, the subject got
out of the vehicle and ran onto Bond St but was able to be stopped at gun point
by officers. He was then placed in investigative detention, in hand cuffs in
the back of a patrol car. After a positive ID was made by the complainant, the
concern citizen and the concerned citizen’s relative, the subject was placed
under arrest and placed into another patrol car. Officers observed a piece of a
clear plastic bag along with a cell phone in the back seat of the patrol car
where the subject had originally been sitting and also a purple looking pill
was allegedly found in the car which officers believed to be ecstasy.  After a further interview of the complainant
was conducted it was learned that the actual robbery had taken place at a gas
station located of Peachtree ST and west Carolina AVE, which is in the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office
jurisdiction.  A Laurens County Sheriff’s Office deputy was
dispatched to The Clinton Department of Public Safety to get the complainant’s information for their report and
they would be drafting warrants against the subject for the robbery, pointing
and presenting, along with grand larceny.

Clinton Public Safety and Laurens County Sheriff’s Office arrested 22
year-old Quintin O’neal Godfrey of 101 Pruitt Park, Clinton Sunday night.

He was charged with possession of Ecstasy, Grand Larceny, Armed Robbery and Possession of a weapon during a
violent crime.

Godfrey remained in Johnson Detention Center this
morning, pending a bond hearing

Laurens County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the
rest area on I-385, Laurens late Friday night where officers talked with the
victim who state that she pulled up at the rest area to go to the bathroom. She
stated she noticed a white in color small car sitting a little ways down the
parking lot.  The victim stated she
allegedly saw a man following her up to the bathrooms and then saw him in the
bathroom through a crack in the stall. She then exited the bathroom and went
back to her van and saw no one in the area but the same male. As she was trying
to get into her vehicle the same man came up and asked her how to get to
Greenville. She stated she didn’t reply but tried to get into her vehicle. The
man then allegedly pulled a knife and said “give me” she then gave him her
pocket-book and he ran away with it back to the white car.

Laurens County Sheriff’s Office arrested two people
Saturday morning.

32 year-old Melissa Dawn
Colon of 708 Slater Rd  and 27 year-old
Claude Lee Turage of 101 S Manley Drive, Taylors

Melissa Colon was charged
with purse snatching, petit larceny and armed robbery, while Claude Turage was
charged with Purse Snatching, Financial Fraud, Breaking into a motor vehicle, Larceny,
Armed Robbery and Possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Both were denied bond and
remained in Johnson Detention Center this morning.

District 56 Assistant Superintendent for Operations Dr. David Pitts issued a statement
this past Friday that Clinton High School will participate in a school-wide
evacuation drill. He indicated students will be transported off campus as part
of this exercise. Pitts stated that District 56 received a Readiness and
Emergency management for Schools grant from the U.S. Department of Education,
and this exercise is a requirement of that grant. He said they are working
closely with all agency partners, including law enforcement, to conduct this
exercise.

The Emergency Evacuation Drill at Clinton High School is set for Tuesday, May 29^th.

A call was made into Clinton Public Safety from
the PC Townhouses in Clinton early Saturday morning concerning a burglary and
possible assault. Upon arrival officers spoke to PC security out front of the
incident location who stated that a male student allegedly entered the incident
location through a front window and assaulted a victim with a handgun.  Officers located the subject, who seemed to
be extremely intoxicated and was unable to explain any of the incident.
According to a witness the subject entered the residence through a front widow
and entered the main living room where six people were sleeping. The room was
reportedly very dark and the subject went to over to the victim while she was
sleeping and allegedly pointed a gun at her and told her to get up. The victim
thought it was a joke at first and turned on her cell phone to see who it was.
The subject reportedly said “if you scream, ill shoot you” and then took the
victims cell phone and ran through the kitchen and out the window he came.  The subject had left the victim’s phone by the
window before he exited.  An
investigation is to follow.

Clinton Public Safety arrested 22 year-old
Chavis Raymond Harris Jr. of 901 Cedar Ave, Long Beach Saturday night.

He was charged with Burglary
1^st degree.

Warrants state that Harris
Jr. did enter a residence with the intent to commit a crime therein .

Chavis Harris Jr. was denied
bond and remained in Johnson Detention Center this morning.

Outdated
medicine needs to be disposed of through legal, safe methods. While you may
have thought of child safety, have you considered the temptation excess
medicine has for drug-related break-ins? Experts also say you should not just
flush old medicine down the toilet.

The
Federal Drug Administration and participating law enforcement agencies across
South Carolina held collection points the last Saturday of April, collecting
3,763 ½ pounds of drugs. Laurens County Deputy Sheriff Scott Patterson said
that the Laurens County Sheriff’s office collected 60 pounds that day, while
the City of Clinton collected another 8 pounds.

Deputy
Patterson said the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office hopes to participate in a
second collection day later this year:

“We’re going to try to do another one around September or October. They
do two a year and I want to try and partner up with them again and do another
one.”

The
FDA-organized campaign, titled “National Take Back Initiative IV,” was declared
a great success here in South Carolina.

The
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration worked with local law enforcement
across the state to safely remove medicines that were outdated or otherwise no
longer needed. Locally, the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office and Clinton Public
Safety worked with the DEA in the collection effort on Saturday, April 28^th.

A
total of 3,763 ½ pounds of medicine was noted across South Carolina. We checked
with Laurens County Deputy Sheriff Scott Patterson to see how much was turned
in locally:

“Laurens County we had 60 pounds and the City of Clinton has 8 pounds.”

Deputy
Patterson said getting rid of excess medicine helps reduce temptation for break-ins
at your home.

A
Clinton Public Library building that had to be abandoned years ago due to
structural problems could soon been replaced with Rental Housing. Clinton City
Council this week gave first reading approval to sell the property at 406 North
Broad Street to Blue Ridge Property Group, LLC for $50,000. The company
indicated an interest in developing the property for market-rate rental
housing.

City
Council received an update on property on the other side of town Monday night.
Janet Stanley of the Clinton Senior Citizens Housing Authority reported that
Tallwood apartments are currently 100% occupied, and she said there’s a small
list of folks waiting on openings there. She noted that there was no rate
increase this year, and said the increase in January 2011 was used to complete
work to make the apartments compliant with ADA rules. Ms. Stanley said plans
are to begin repaving the parking lot this year and replace mailboxes and
fencing. She said plans for 2013 are to start replacing some of the roofs at
Tallwood Homes.

Laurens County Sheriff’s Office officers responded to a
call late Tuesday night from a victim stating her boyfriend was allegedly
chasing her up the road and had struck her vehicle several times with another
vehicle while they were driving down the road.
Once officers arrived on scene the victim seemed very upset and stated
that her boyfriend, who had been drinking and self medicating, got to arguing
with her on the way home from the store.
The victim told the subject she was leaving at which time he reportedly
became very irate and allegedly opened the car door as she was driving down the
road, acting as if he was going to jump out.
The victim then stopped the vehicle and the subject got out but she
returned back to pick the subject up because she didn’t want to leave him on a
back road. At this time the subject allegedly ran up the hood of the stopped
vehicle then back down before opening the passenger door, getting in and poking
the victim in the face telling her she was not going to leave him. The victims
then started driving again and the subject once again allegedly threatened to
jump out of the car so the victim stopped the car and the subject got out and
grabbed the keys. The subject left the vehicle but returned shortly in his
brother’s vehicle, gave the victim back her keys and told her to follow
him.  The victim state she did not follow
the subject but instead planned to go to her mother’s house.  The subject reportedly came up behind her and
rammed her numerous times causing her to spin out.  At this time was when the victim called 911 ,
but did not see the subject again after she crossed over HWY 76 on to Stagecoach
Rd.  The victim’s juvenile son was in the
car as this was going on.  The subject
was later located by deputies and HWY Patrol transported him to Johnson Detention Center.

South Carolina HWY Patrol and Laurens County Sheriff’s Offices arrested 24
year-old Andre Samone Penderman of 995 Boyd Rd, Laurens yesterday morning.

He was charged with Malicious
Injury to Personal Property, Criminal Domestic Violence, assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature, Resisting Arrest, Failure to Stop for
Blue Lights, Drug Possession and Driving a vehicle to fast for conditions.

Penderman remained in Johnson Detention Center this morning, pending a bond
hearing