News from around The Carolinas

South Carolina

SPARTANBURG

Man charged in Waffle House robbery try

Spartanburg County sheriff’s deputies have charged a man with robbery in a botched holdup at a local Waffle House that left another suspect dead.

Lt. Tony Ivey says 29-year-old Kenneth Jowan Craig was arrested late Saturday night and charged with armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Investigators say Craig and 19-year-old Dante Lamont Williams tried to rob the restaurant early Saturday morning. A customer with a concealed weapons permit drew his gun and told the men to wait for sheriff’s deputies to arrive.

Ivey says Williams pointed his gun at the customer, who shot and killed him.

Craig is being held at the Spartanburg County jail.

CHARLESTON

Men charged with cigarette scam

Eleven men have been charged with running a multimillion-dollar cigarette trafficking and money laundering operation in North and South Carolina.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports that federal court documents unsealed last week detail the charges against the men, who were arrested in November.

The documents say the men bought 6,800 cases of Marlboro cigarettes at half their market price from people they thought had stolen the merchandise. In reality, they were undercover law enforcement officers.

Investigators say the men also helped launder money given to them by the undercover agents.

Black market cigarettes are often funneled from states with lower taxes to states with higher taxes, where they’re sold at a discount. Authorities estimate the trade costs governments $5 billion a year in lost revenue.

COLUMBIA

Police release new details in 2011 slayings

Columbia police are releasing new details in a 2011 double homicide that investigators at the time called one of the most brutal cases they had ever seen.

The State newspaper reports that police are hoping the new information will help solve the killings of 25-year-old Candra Alston and her 3-year-old daughter, Malaysia Boykin.

Police say that a computer, an expensive Gucci purse and children’s clothing were missing from the home where the two died. They don’t believe that robbery was the motive, though, and say neither was sexually assaulted.

Investigator Kevin Reese has interviewed more than 150 people since the two were found dead in January 2011.

GREENVILLE

Authorities fear synthetic drugs’ return

Authorities in South Carolina are worried that synthetic narcotics sold over the counter could make a comeback in the state, despite a recent ban.

The Greenville News reports that state Rep. Anne Thayer, R-Belton, will propose legislation this year that would ban 110 drugs that have no medicinal use.

Thayer says the goal is to stay ahead of manufacturers who will simply change ingredients as they’re made illegal.

Last year, a statewide ban followed local measures aimed to keep drugs marketed as bath salts, plant food or other substances off the shelf in South Carolina stores.

But police in Spartanburg County report seeing stores selling at least one product being marketed as glass cleaner that appears similar to banned synthetic drugs.

North Carolina

CHARLOTTE

Veterans’ home subject of legal battle

A Charlotte home for veterans and others with disabilities is the subject of a bitter legal battle involving allegations of forgery and mismanagement.

The Charlotte Observer reports that a longtime co-owner of Charlottetown Manor, Mary Rudolph, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that two area businessmen used forged documents and deception to take over the facility.

Now called Beacon Independent Living, the complex provides temporary housing to about 60 people, mostly homeless veterans.

The defendants in the case, Bruce Bleiman and Frank McCollum, deny the allegations. They took over management of the facility last year and claim that under Rudolph it was nearly forced to close. McCollum no longer is involved with the home.

CRAMERTON

Town sues fire department over gear

A Gaston County town is suing the volunteer fire department that served it for 50 years over more than a million dollars’ worth of equipment.

The Gaston Gazette reports that the town of Cramerton filed a lawsuit this month claiming that Cramerton Volunteer Fire Department is improperly holding on to gear that belongs to the town.

The volunteer department provided fire protection to Cramerton from 1961 until last summer. A contract dispute over who would get to hire the chief, control finances and other matters caused the town and the department to go their separate ways.

Cramerton plans to have a new, municipal department up and running by April 30.

Members of the volunteer department’s board of directors declined to comment on the lawsuit.

From wire reports