Published Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:50 PM
Updated Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:52 PM

 

Crime 05/09/08

Jailed murder suspect accused of attacking officer

Matthew Isreal Harrison, a 32-year-old murder suspect awaiting trial in the maximum security unit of the county jail, struck a detention officer in the face late last month because he was upset about not receiving paperwork fast enough, according to a Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office report.

Another inmate was being escorted from his cell by two officers when Harrison “lashed out of his cell,” striking one of them in the face with his hand, the report shows.

The other officer forced Harrison back into his cell, the report says.

The officer who was attacked did not sustain any major injuries, the report says. He was given a case number so as to obtain a warrant.

Harrison was arrested in February by sheriff’s deputies and charged with the murder of Joseph Arrington Coleman, 40, of Moncks Corner.

Coleman suffered a shotgun wound to his back outside Harrison’s Flowertown Village subdivision home, authorities said.

The motive behind the shooting apparently stemmed from some type of argument between the alleged shooter and the victim, although the details of that argument were unclear, sheriff’s 1st Sgt. Michael Miller said at the time.

Pistol-packin’ pastor has gun stolen

The pastor of a Dorchester Road church reported last week that his black Colt .38 revolver — the handgun he said he brings to work everyday — was stolen from the desk of his church office a day earlier, a report shows.

Deputies met with the 76-year-old pastor, who told them he realized the gun had been taken when he reached into his desk drawer for it and it was gone, according to the report.

He said he locks the church’s front door and his office door but he leaves the back door unlocked so members of the congregation can come and go. He noticed wood chips on the floor that appeared to have come from his office door’s frame, the report says.

Deputies entered the gun’s serial number into the National Crime Information Center database and gave the pastor a case number.

Campaign sign sawed in half

Less than two weeks after 75 campaign signs for Mike Rose, a Republican candidate for State Senate, were reported missing from their original locations, a sign on Dorchester Road for Rose’s opponent was sawed in half, a sheriff’s office report shows.

The sign for incumbent State Sen. Randy Scott (R-Summerville) was cut from its post sometime May 3 and cut in half, apparently by a saw, the reporting deputy noted.

The sign was valued at $180, according to the report.

In a letter to the editor published in Wednesday’s Journal Scene, Summerville real estate agent Robert Pratt said a commercial real estate sign of his — which was near Scott’s sign — was “chain-sawed down at the knees and cut in half.”

Pratt said he is offering a $500 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person, or people, responsible.

Cloth in shower piques suspicion

A woman in unincorporated Summerville called the sheriff’s office last week after suspecting an unknown person used her shower when she wasn’t home, a report shows.

The woman, who lives alone, said she found a cloth with an unknown substance on it in her shower. She said she has no idea how the cloth got there.

She asked that the incident be documented in case there are any further incidents, the report says.

One unlucky event begets another

A Summerville man moved his motorcycle out of his garage Tuesday because of a frog infestation only to have it stolen hours later, a report shows.

The 2007 Yamaha, valued at $16,000, was not secured when it was taken, the report says. It was insured, however.

The man described the motorcycle to Summerville police as having minor damage on the left side and gold sprockets, levers and chains.

Police entered the vehicle into the National Crime Information Center database as stolen.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com