Mug Shots

The following were taken from actual incident reports filed last week by the City of Charleston Police Department. These are not convictions and the names of businesses, complainants, and suspects have been left out to protect the innocent. All suspects are  innocent until proven guilty … of course.
September 16 | Injured party
An Ashley Hall Plantation Road mother called police, saying her son was acting oddly. When police arrived, the son was hitting himself in the head with his open palm, saying that there was “something wrong with me, man.” The man said voices in his head were telling him “to hurt other people.” When police got the man, who had no history of drug or mental issues, to allow medical personnel to check him out, he became aggressive, threatening to “light them on fire.” Police soon discovered that the man has three active warrants for his arrest, on charges ranging from burglary to criminal domestic violence.
September 16 | Hit and run
A woman driving down Sam Rittenberg Boulevard reported being hit from the rear by another woman driving an SUV with “multiple children” on board. The two cars moved off the roadway and turned on their blinking lights, when suddenly the kid-filled SUV roared off.
September 17 | Attempted suicide
A Hearthside Drive mother reported to police that her son had attempted to commit suicide and had active suicidal thoughts. When police arrived, the son had several bleeding cuts on his arm, wrapped in a series of bandanas. The son said he wanted to kill himself because his parents wouldn’t allow him to smoke marijuana and that marijuana was the only thing in life that made him happy.
September 17 | Shoplifting
Employees at a Sam Rittenberg Boulevard store that specializes in undergarments for women, observed four women shoppers acting suspiciously. Following the foursome, one of the employees was distracted by a customer, at which point the four women, one being “noticeably pregnant,” ran out the door with close to $1,100 in undergarments. The employee chased the four women down the hall, through a department store, and out into the parking lot before losing sight of them.
September 17 | Forgery
An Albemarle Road restaurant group reported a series of electronically forged checks from one of their out-of-state restaurants having cleared their bank. The checks were for $4,350, $700, $650, and $975.13. 
September 17 | Shoplifting
A Sam Rittenberg Boulevard clothing store reported a woman shopper making off with as many as three pairs of men’s pants and a bottle of cologne, and running out the door to a car. The woman then proceeded to back out her car from the parking lot all the way to the road in such a manner as to obscure her license plate.
September 17 | Shoplifting
A man with a known past of shoplifting from a Sam Rittenberg Boulevard store was stopped by police and asked at the store if he had anything on his person than he hadn’t paid for. The man said no. When the office reviewed video surveillance tapes, the man was seen placing a pair of shoes in his pants. The man then gave two fake names before giving correct identification. While in the back of the cruiser, the man began to look ill, and said he was a diabetic and that he hadn’t taken his medicine that day, and that his blood sugar was 430. The man was transported to the hospital before being processed for jail.
 September 17 | Attempted suicide
Police responded to an apartment complex on William Kennerty Drive to find a man on the second-floor threatening to jump. “I’m going to jump! I’m going to die today!” The man also yelled at police to shoot him; that he wanted to die. The man then jumped the 10 feet down to the ground, where he was handcuffed and handed over to ambulance workers. After the man spit at the ambulance workers, a mask was fitted over his face. His girlfriend was on the scene and reported the man as having a history of mental issues and suicide attempts.