Police

SOCASTEE

Carjacking, armed robbery eludes police

Horry County police searched for a man suspected of carjacking a woman and then breaking into another woman’s house and stealing her purse before he ran away, according to a police report.

Officers were called at 7:30 p.m. Saturday to Watson Riverside in the Socastee community for a carjacking and the burglary, police said.

A 43-year-old woman told officers that she was driving at the entrance of Luttie Road when she saw the man walking and gave him a ride because he said he was going to the end of the road, according to the report. The woman said as they got to the end of Luttie Road, the suspect grabbed her arm, told her he wouldn’t hurt her, but he was sick and needed money.

The suspect then told the woman he had a gun, but she never saw it, according to the report. The victim told police she gave the man a $50 bill from her pocket.

The victim said she opened her door, ran and screamed for her friend while the suspect was distracted by the $50 bill, according to the report. The victim said the suspect got in the driver’s seat of her vehicle and started to drive away, but she yelled for a nearby 53-year-old man to block the vehicle with his so the suspect wouldn’t steal her car.

The other man’s vehicle hit the woman’s car, but the suspect kept going toward Socastee Boulevard until the vehicle crashed in a ditch, according to the report. The suspect ran to a house on Beverly Street and a 54-year-old woman told officers she found him standing in her hallway.

The suspect said he had been in a vehicle crash and needed help, but that victim screamed for her husband, who confronted the suspect, according to the report. The suspect told the victim’s husband he had a gun as he backed out of the house and ran out the backdoor and jumped over a fence.

The suspect took the woman’s purse from the house, but dropped it at the fence. Officers searched the area, but were not able to find the suspect.

HORRY COUNTY

Man pours lighter fluid on girlfriend

A Murrells Inlet man remained jailed Monday after police said he poured lighter fluid on a woman and threatened her after he couldn’t find cigarettes, according to a police report.

Donald Wayne Faust, 54, was charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and failure to appear in court when he was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center at 12:04 a.m. Saturday.

The assault charge stemmed from officers being called about 7 p.m. Friday to a home on Offshore Drive in the Garden City Beach area after a 63-year-old woman went to her neighbor’s house and said her boyfriend pulled a knife on her and threw lighter fluid on her.

The victim, who was upset and crying, told police that Faust got upset when he couldn’t find his cigarettes and yelled at her, according to the report. The victim told police that he followed her in the bathroom, cornered her while holding a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid and threatened to burn her if she didn’t tell him where his cigarettes were located.

The victim told police that he squirted the fluid on her and she tried to run away, but he grabbed her and held her on the floor, according to the report. The victim told police that she was able to escape and ran to the neighbor’s house and called police.

The victim declined EMS treatment, according to the report. Police found Faust hiding in a wooded area behind the home. The victim did not mention being threatened with a knife to police, according to the report. Officers found a pocket knife on Faust when he was taken into custody.

LORIS

Man accused of kidnapping, assault

A Loris man remained jailed Monday on charges he forcibly took his former girlfriend from her home, pulled her into a wooded area, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her before she was able to escape, according to authorities.

William Earl Hemingway, 36, of Loris, was charged Saturday with first-degree assault and battery, kidnapping, second-degree burglary, first-offense criminal domestic violence and contempt of family court by an adult, according to records at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

Horry County police were called at 9:15 a.m. May 28 to a home on Watts Road and found a 37-year-old woman waiting in her vehicle to report the incident, according to a police report. The woman told police that her relationship with Hemingway had ended , but he had been stopping by her home and calling her new boyfriend.

The victim told police that she got off work, went home and went to bed and woke up to Hemingway putting a towel over her mouth and pulling her from her bedroom, according to the report. The victim said Hemingway pulled her from the house and down the street to a wooded area and punched her repeatedly in the face, neck and chest.

The victim told police Hemingway held a knife to her throat and forced her to call her boyfriend and break up with him on the phone, according to the report. She said got away when she grabbed a large stick and hit Hemingway in the head.

HORRY COUNTY

Fire damages homes near Myrtle Beach

Horry County firefighters are investigating an early morning blaze at a home near Myrtle Beach, according to authorities Monday.

Fire crews were called at 12:06 a.m. Monday to 405 Holly Circle for the blaze, according to officials. Firefighters from Myrtle Beach responded to provide mutual aid to Horry County Fire Rescue crews.

When firefighters arrived the fire was well involved in the first home and extended into two buildings near the home where the fire began, according to officials.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

From staff reports