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.
October 27
General information
Several West Ashley women in their 60’s reported that a series of withdrawals had been made on their ATM cards for between $480 and $485 at local banks.
October 27
Forgery, counterfeit
A Sam Rittenberg Boulevard bank reported a man attempting to cash what appeared to be an altered check for the amount of $825. Further investigation showed that while the check read it was from a business, it actually was drawing on a personal account in Mt. Pleasant. Police report they were able to lift a thumbprint from the check from the man who attempted to cash it.
October 28
Robbery with
an object
A man ran into a Savannah Highway diner and called the police, reporting that a man he knew had jumped him from behind, put an object to his head, and said “Give me everything you have, cracker” as he was walking his bicycle on Applebee Way. The victim said the robber made off with about $3 in change, and a bottle of his pills. But, the victim reported he still had $300 in cash the robber didn’t know about. While the man was waiting at the diner for police to arrive, the man who robbed him pulled up in a car, and returned the pills to him.
October 28 Embezzlement
A Sam Rittenberg Boulevard grocery store reported that two of its employees over several weeks had allegedly embezzled more than $2,500. The store showed police video and accounting papers that showing two employees using a special discount function on their cash registers to reduce the cost of a store gift card to 2-cents each. The store claimed the men had done this 55 separate times.
October 28
General information
A Savannah Highway retail store called police after a passerby noticed an abandoned suitcase set on their property next to some electrical equipment. Upon investigation, police found the suitcase to be stocked with two blankets and two, 22-ounce beers. It was determined the suitcase had probably been left by a homeless person, and it was thrown away.
October 28 All other offenses
A Hazelwood Avenue woman reported one of her neighbors roughly grabbing a young child from outside their apartment building and taking it inside his unit and apparently beating the child. The woman reported being able to hear the child’s screams for help from outside the unit. When police arrived, the man said he lived there with the girl’s mother. When asked what happened, the man replied, “I beat her ass. She wasn’t supposed to be outside yet and she was out there so I nicely went down there and brought her inside.” The mother soon arrived on the scene, saying that her daughter had a hard time following directions from her or her boyfriend.
October 28
Larceny under false pretenses
A Savannah Highway car dealership reported a 2015 Corolla missing after a man who rented the car on a month-long basis hadn’t returned it after more than five weeks. Apparently, the debit card the man used to rent the vehicle had later been declined. The man’s wife had called to say he was going to return it a week late, but he still had the car a week and a half later. Attempts to contact the man and the wife proved futile so far.
October 28
Motor vehicle theft
An Ashley Crossing Drive woman reported that a SUV she and her ex-boyfriend owned was missing. The woman said the ex’s father had been threatening to reclaim the car since September by email and Facebook comments. She reported that also missing were several personal items in the car, including: a $700 pair of shoes, a $385 pair of sunglasses, and a $25 pair of sunglasses.