Police

MYRTLE BEACH

Man sentenced for gun incident

A Murrells Inlet man was ordered to serve six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot a woman at a Myrtle Beach hotel in March, according to records.

Raheem Malik Pickens, 24, pleaded guilty to pointing and presenting a weapon. Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Culbertson sentenced him to six months in jail and gave him credit for the time he has served since his March 14 arrest, according to court records.

Other charges that included kidnapping, public intoxication and domestic violence were dismissed.

The weapon charge stemmed from March 13 when two women told police that while at the Sea Dunes hotel at 605 South Ocean Blvd., they were in a parking lot when Pickens started yelling at them, according to a police report.

Pickens showed them a gun and then ordered them into a room, a report shows. Pickens then threatened the women, they told police.

The victims said Pickens left the room and fired what they believed to be a gunshot, the report shows.

MYRTLE BEACH

Woman’s flower picking leads to charges

Myrtle Beach police arrested a 23-year-old woman on drug charges after an officer saw her picking flowers from city landscaping, according to a police report.

Leah Jade Chandler, 23, of Myrtle Beach, was charged with simple possession of marijuana and is being held at the Myrtle Beach Jail on $620 bond, according to jail records.

Chandler was taken into custody after bicycle officers on patrol along the Boardwalk near Fourth Avenue North saw her taking flowers from an area of city maintained landscaping, police said.

The officers stopped to speak with Chandler about picking the flowers and she told them she previously had been arrested for drug possession, according to the report. Chandler allowed the officers to search her and her belongings and they found a plastic container that had contained 0.7 grams of marijuana inside and a grinder.

MYRTLE BEACH

Teens seeking drugs robbed

Two teens told Myrtle Beach police they were robbed at gunpoint when they went with some girls to purchase drugs, according to a police report.

The 18-year-old men told officers that about 1 a.m. Thursday in the 1000 block of South Ocean Boulevard they went with the girls to meet two men to purchase marijuana, police said.

The teens said one man had a gun and hit one of the victim sin the face before the suspects took the teen’s cell phones, valued at $400, gift cards valued at $85 and $7 cash, according to the report. The teens said they chased after the suspects, but lost sight of them near 15th Avenue South.

Officers searched for the suspects, but did not find them in the area.

MYRTLE BEACH

Woman stabbed, boyfriend arrested

A Conway area man is accused of stabbing his girlfriend in Myrtle Beach Thursday according to authorities.

Myrtle Beach police were called to a home on 1111 9th Avenue South for an attempted murder.

The 55-year-old woman said she was in the back room of the house when her boyfriend of about a month came in through the unlocked front door and started to yell at her saying if he couldn’t have her he would kill her, according to a police report.

The woman said the 61-year-old man hit her on the mouth then pulled out a knife and stabbed her multiple times. He dropped the knife and left the house, the report said.

The woman was transported to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center and her condition is not known.

The man fled in a white Dodge Ram Truck and was arrested by Horry County Police on Williamson Circle off S.C. 905, said Sgt. Robert Kegler.

The Sun News does not name suspects until formal charges have been filed.

Local

PAWLEYS ISLAND

South Atlantic Bank branch full-service

South Atlantic Bank will now operate its new Pawleys Island branch as a full-service bank, the company announced this week.

The bank opened the branch, located at 10593 Ocean Highway, Unit B, as a loan production office in May.

It has now received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the S.C. State Board of Financial Institutions to operate as a full-service branch in Pawleys Island, according to South Atlantic.

The branch is South Atlantic Bank’s second location on the South Strand. The bank operates a branch at 11019 Tournament Boulevard in Murrells Inlet in addition to its headquarters office in Myrtle Beach.

Veteran bankers Drew Johnson and Donna Murphy are leading the Pawleys Island team and establishing the branch’s presence with assistance from staff members Diane McLean and Janis Cottingham.

Johnson served as president at the failed Pawleys Island-based Plantation Federal Bank, which Charleston-based First Federal acquired in April in a FDIC-brokered deal, and Murphy served as a vice president there.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to serve Pawleys Island and the Waccamaw Neck,” South Atlantic Bank chairman of the board and chief executive officer K. Wayne Wicker stated in a news release. “Our new location enables us to bring our community banking philosophy of sound banking practices, credit quality, and exemplary customer service to consumers and businesses in this new market.”

From staff reports