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 off to protect the innocent. All suspects are  innocent until proven guilty, of course.
May 5 | Criminal domestic violence
An officer stopped at the stoplight at intersection of Magwood Drive and Glenn McConnell Parkway noticed a man chasing a woman out into the median of the intersection, and grab her arm in a “forceful manner.” When the officer exited his cruiser, the woman began yelling “Police! Police!” and ran toward him. The man followed and the officer began to cuff the man, who was cussing at the woman in the middle of three lanes of traffic. Suddenly, the man tried to run away, but was taken to ground by the officer. Other arriving officers placed the woman in the back of a squad car, while her car was moved from the middle of the intersection.
May 5 | Welfare fraud
A shopper at a West Ashley super store reported a man sidling up to him, offering to sell him a $110 food stamps card for $60 cash so he could fix his car and visit his daughter. After the man called a number that showed there was $111 on the card, the shopper purchased it. But a few minutes later, when the shopper attempted to use the card, it was declined, and a subsequent call found out that the card had been suspended.
May 5 | Traffic arrest
Police began following a car down Savannah Highway that did not have on its headlights. When the officer hit the siren and the blue lights, the driver did not pull over, but instead continued driving, albeit at no more than 30 m.p.h., thrusting his hands out the sunroof repeatedly. The driver continued to his Blitchridge Drive home, and emerged from his car saying, “I’m sorry. I’m suspended.” A quick records check showed the man was driving on a suspended license, and was listed as a “habitual violator.”
May 6 | Sex exposure
A woman walking down the West Ashley Greenway near Nicholson Drove reported seeing a man masturbating while sitting on a manhole cover. She described the man, who was soon in custody, as “erect and very well endowed.”
May 6 | Criminal domestic violence – simple assault
Police responded to an Ashley Hall Road apartment after several calls for service from a witness about a fight taking place between a woman and a man. When the officer arrived, the woman was in a van and the man was outside their apartment. According to a witness, the man had accused the woman of having an affair, and exclaimed, “You ain’t nothing but a [redacted] hoe [sic].” The man then reportedly struck the woman several times in the face with a closed fist.
May 6 | Traffic arrest
An officer began following a BMW coupe down Savannah Highway that was driving at a high rate, not maintaining a lane, not using turn signals, and crossing over the dotted center line. The officer reported another BMW driving in a similar manner. The driver of the stopped car claimed, “that BMW May series was riding my ass, and that’s why I was driving like I was.” The driver was arrested and his car towed for “safe keeping.”
May 7 | Criminal domestic violence – simple assault
An officer responded to a report of a fight between a man and a woman at a Sam Rittenberg Boulevard convenience store. The husband appeared inebriated, having been drinking in the bar of a local golf club. The wife said she picked him up and on the way home, they got into a fight over a $108 tab he had accumulated at the bar. The man began yelling at her, so she pulled over at the store to let him out, at which point the man allegedly began hitting her.
May 7 | Simple assault
A woman said a man slapped her and accidentally slapped her 2-year-old son during an altercation. The man had come by to ask about the whereabouts of the woman’s sister-in-law, and when the woman said she didn’t know, he told her to “stop playing stupid,” and began striking her.