Crime Beat 12/09/09 | Crime | Summerville Journal Scene

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Crime Beat 12/09/09

Published Tuesday, December 08, 2009 11:53 AM

By David Berman
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Dance!

A Ridgeville homeowner caught a man going through his truck Dec. 6 and — fearing that someone might break into his home — fired two blasts of birdshot at the man’s feet, sending him running and, ultimately, to the hospital, a Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office report shows.

The homeowner, 60, was in the shower when he heard his doorbell ring. As he was getting dressed to answer it, he simultaneously saw the man moving items inside the truck and heard the side door on his garage open, the report says.

He thought it was a home invasion, and since he didn’t know how many suspects there were or if they had guns, he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun, he later told deputies.

He fired once through his closed bedroom window at the suspect’s feet, striking him in the left leg and foot, the report says.

The suspect flinched and jumped as he ran for a silver car that was parked in the backyard. Also making a break for the car was a woman who appeared to be running away from the garage, he said.

The homeowner fired a second shot, striking the suspect in his other leg and foot, the report says.

He said he intentionally aimed at the suspect’s feet because he didn’t want to kill him.

The suspect, 38, later turned up in the emergency room at Trident Medical Center with gunshot wounds to his legs, the report says. After being treated, he was arrested for breaking into a motor vehicle and taken to the Dorchester County Detention Center in St. George.

Engine’s flooded

Giving a whole new meaning to “roaming charges,” a man stepped away from his pickup truck for a 10-minute cell phone call Dec. 3 and returned to find the vehicle in the Ashley River, a Summerville Police incident report shows.

Damage to the truck was estimated at $1,500.

The man’s stepfather, who was “highly intoxicated,” stayed in the vehicle while he went to make the call, the report says. The keys were still in the ignition.

He came back and saw the vehicle in the water with his stepfather still inside. He pulled him from the truck. The stepfather “didn’t know what he had done or where he was,” the report says.

The man said his stepfather did not have permission to drive the truck, but he didn’t want to press charges.

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

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104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax