TheSunNews.com: Crime and Courts

Horry County police track suspect in homicide using GPS bracelet; victim identified

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:27 EST

A Longs man is in police custody pending charges in connection with a fatal shooting on Thursday, Horry County police Sgt. Robert Kegler said.

The 21-year-old man has not been formally charged in the shooting that occurred about 3:50 p.m. Thursday on J.C. Lane in Longs, Kegler said.

The Sun News does not identify suspects until they have been formally charged.

Horry County bloodhound team arrests Myrtle Beach area man on attempted murder charge

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17 EST

Horry County police arrested a 27-year-old man on an attempted murder charge after using the department’s bloodhound tracking team to search for him in a wooded area early Thursday, Sgt. Robert Kegler said.

Kendrick Walter Dorell Green, 27, of Myrtle Beach, was charged with attempted murder and is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center pending a bond hearing, Kegler said.

Officers went to Secrets Nightclub about 2:45 a.m. Thursday for a wanted person at the bar, Kegler said. Green ran out of the club and into a wooded area, so officers set up a perimeter and used the department’s bloodhound tracking team to search the area and Green was located about 10 minutes later.

Myrtle Beach area man charged in fatal shooting released on $85,000 bail

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:24 EST

A Myrtle Beach area man charged with murder in connection with a November shooting has been released on $85,000 bail from J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

Kelly Jerome McNeil, 42, was released at 10:48 a.m. Wednesday from the jail, according to jail records.

Myrtle Beach police charged McNeil with murder in connection with the shooting death of 43-year-old Joe James of Conway, according to police.

Police investigate homicide in Horry County

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:24 EST

Detectives with the Horry County Police Department are investigating the area’s second homicide in a week, after a fatal shooting Thursday on JC Drive in the Longs section of the county, said Sgt. Robert Kegler.

The shooting was reported just before 4 p.m. on a dirt road in the rural community.

The Longs’ area man, who Horry County Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler declined to identify until his relatives were notified, was shot in the leg, said Kegler.

One person wounded during store robbery in Horry County

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:14 EST

One person was shot this morning during a store robbery in Horry County, police said.

The robbery occurred at 5 a.m. at the Kangaroo convenience store on S.C. 90 in the Wampee community, said Sgt. Robert Kegler, police spokesman.

Three men wearing masks showed weapons when they entered the store and demanded money from the clerk, Kegler said.

Myrtle Beach couple walked out on Denny's bill, three arrested for drug violations and theft

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:06 EST

Myrtle Beach police arrested three people after two of them walked out on a $7.04 bill at a Myrtle Beach Denny's restaurant.

A couple sat down to eat at the Denny’s at 800 Kings Highway around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, a police report said.

About 40 minutes later, a man left the restaurant while a woman went to the cash register. The woman then told the employee she needed to get a credit card from the man, police said.

Sentencing postponed for former Conway manufactured home dealer

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:24 EST

A sentencing hearing for former Conway manufactured home dealer Glenn Vaught, who pleaded guilty last year to a felony mortgage fraud charge, was postponed Wednesday after mortgage broker Nancy Kennedy showed up in the courtroom to testify against him.

Judge Bryan Harwell has not rescheduled a sentencing date for Vaught and his co-conspirator, former mortgage broker Michael Fortenberry, each of whom were in federal court in Florence to receive possible sentences of up to five years in prison and a maximum of $250,000 in fines.

Kennedy claims Vaught duped her into helping him file five mortgage applications with falsified information on them. Vaught then coerced her into filing two more applications, telling her it was the only way buyers who had been cheated in the scheme could get their homes, she said.

Surfside Beach man charged with assault, child endangerment

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:58 EST

Surfside Beach police arrested a 27-year-old man on driving under the influence, criminal domestic violence and child endangerment charges following an incident late Sunday, according to a police report.

Joshua Daniel Bell, 27, of Surfside Beach, was charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, driving under the influence, driving under suspension, unlawful neglect of a child and child endangerment, according to records at J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Bell was booked into the jail at 3:51 a.m. Monday and is being held on $51,442 bond.

Officers were called about 8:15 p.m. Sunday to a home in the 1000 block of South Myrtle Drive for a domestic dispute, according to the report. Officers saw a vehicle leaving the area and learned from the victim that Bell was driving it and was suspected in the assault.

SLED investigation finished, Horry County police cleared

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:15 EST

An investigation of allegations made against members of the Horry County Police Department in an anonymous letter is finished and the department has been cleared of any wrong doing, said County Chairman Tom Rice.

The State Law Enforcement Division began an investigation after receiving a copy of the letter late last year.

“I’m thankful this issue is finally resolved,” Rice said Tuesday. “The men and women of the Horry County Police Department do a commendable job and put their lives on the line for us every day.

Atlantic Beach Mayor requests jury trial on DUI charge

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:15 EST

Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha Pierce Sturdivant has requested a jury trial on a driving under the influence charge in Conway, according to court officials.

Sturdivant was set to make an initial appearance in court on Wednesday, but she has requested a jury trial. Her trial has not been scheduled, but is expected to be set for later this year.

The 62-year-old was arrested Jan. 8 after Conway police said she failed a field sobriety test minutes after they saw her driving erratically on city streets.

Police | North Myrtle Beach man confessed to killing his father

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:17 EST

A North Myrtle Beach man admitted to police that he killed his father following an argument the men had, according to a police report.

Lucas James Permenter, 31, is jailed at J. Reuben Long Detention Center without bond on a charge of murder in the stabbing death of his 59-year-old father, Eugene R. Permenter.

Eugene Permenter was found dead about 11:40 a.m. Saturday inside his home in the 300 block of 50th Avenue North in the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach, authorities said.

Sugar Bowl MVP’s jewelry stolen during Conway area burglary

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:45 EST

Horry County police are investigating a burglary at the home of Kenneth Earl Hemingway Jr.’s father in Conway where the Sugar Bowl MVP’s jewelry was taken, according to a police report.

Police were called for the incident about 11 a.m. Friday to the home on Old Bucksville Road where Junior Hemingway’s father, Kenneth Hemingway, reported someone broke into the house after he left about 7:45 a.m. that morning, according to the report. Kenneth Hemingway said he left the house and his neighbor reported a vehicle pulled into the driveway and a man got out and went to the side of the house.

Things taken from the home included a Gator Bowl watch valued at $1,000; a Sugar Bowl watch valued at $1,000; an East/West watch valued at $1,000; a silver watch valued at $1,200; a gold watch valued at $500; an Outback Bowl ring valued at $1,000; a gold diamond ring valued at $800; a gold initial ring with a K on it valued at $500; two video gaming systems and controllers valued at $759; 11 video games valued at $400; and a 55-inch television valued at $1,200.

New York pastor returned to Horry County to face robbery charges

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:01 EST

A Rochester, N.Y., pastor was extradited to Horry County on Sunday to face robbery charges stemming from a November robbery at the Carolina Forest location of Buffalo Wild Wings, according to authorities.

Anthony Lee Drumgoole, 23, was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center at 9:19 p.m. Sunday on two counts of armed robbery, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and an unrelated charge of failure to appear in court, according to jail records. He is being held pending a bond hearing.

Drumgoole has family ties in the Conway area and listed his address along Antioch Road, but his Facebook page stated he was the founder of the Free From All Chains Outreach Ministry Inc., and a senior pastor there since 2008.

Police arrest son of man killed in North Myrtle Beach, charge him with murder

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:26 EST

A North Myrtle Beach man has been charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his father, said North Myrtle Beach officials.

North Myrtle Beach police officers had been on the lookout for Lucas James Permenter since finding his father, Eugene R. Permenter, 59, dead in his home in the Cherry Grove section of the city about 11:40 a.m. Saturday.

Lucas Permenter lived with his father. He was found hours after his father’s death, and North Myrtle Beach officials announced his charges late Sunday afternoon.

Police arrest person in connection with homicide in North Myrtle Beach

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:56 EST

Police have arrested one person in connection with a homicide on Saturday in North Myrtle Beach, according to authorities.

The name of the victim, the suspect and the address of the incident have not been released by city officials, said spokesman Pat Dowling. More details are expected to be released Sunday afternoon, he said.

Sometime Saturday afternoon, a man from the South Strand area went to check on his brother, who lives in the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach, when he found him dead in the living room, city spokesman Pat Dowling said.

Courthouse notebook | FBI turns tables on mortgage fraud informant

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:26 EST

Nancy Kennedy spent years working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help build a case against Conway-based manufactured home dealer Glenn Vaught.

Kennedy never dreamed that she also was helping federal investigators build a case against herself.

Vaught – the former owner of the now-closed G&E Home Sales on U.S. 501 in Conway – and his accomplice, former mortgage broker Michael Fortenberry, are scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday in federal court in Florence for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme that cost two banks more than $1.5 million during last decade’s housing boom. By the time those banks obtained a court-order to freeze the men’s bank accounts, only $14,199 was left.

N.C. man indicted on sexual assault charges involving 7-year-old boy

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:49 EST

A North Carolina man has been indicted by an Horry County grand jury on charges he sexually assaulted a 7-year-old boy last summer, according to court records.

Nathan Elisha Tyler, 19, of Clarendon, N.C., was indicted on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and lewd act on a minor, according to indictments released Tuesday.

Tyler is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center on $35,000 bond since his arrest on Oct. 3, according to jail records.

Myrtle Beach man indicted in sexual assault of 14-year-old he met via Facebook

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:42 EST

A Myrtle Beach man has been indicted by an Horry County grand jury on charges he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl he met on a social media website, according to court records.

Nigel Bradley Spence, 21, was indicted on charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to indictments released Tuesday. Spence remains jailed on $35,000 bond at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

The charges stemmed from Sept. 26 when Horry County police said he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl he met via Facebook. The incident was reported to police Oct. 1 after the girl’s parents learned about it.

Former Myrtle Beach police officer left lasting impression on colleagues

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:01 EST

William Jay Holder, a 25-year Myrtle Beach police veteran and shag champion, will be remembered for his compassion and enthusiasm for protecting the city, its visitors and residents, according to co-workers.

Jay Holder died Tuesday at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., following an illness and will be buried Saturday following a funeral with a police escort and honor guard salute. He was 63.

“Without a doubt Jay probably loved this city and the community more than any other officer I’ve ever known,” Myrtle Beach police Lt. Doug Furlong said Friday. “In the time I worked with him on beach patrol and on the waterfront, he was so committed to making sure he represented the city and the police department at the highest level while making sure the job he had to do was No. 1.”

Charges filed in mobile meth lab scare at Surfside Beach area shopping center

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:01 EST

A pair of shoplifting incidents helped lead Horry County police to arrest four people in connection with chemicals used to make methamphetamines.

Police arrested two men and two women on Thursday in the parking lot of a Surfside Beach area shopping center, and the four were formally charged on Friday, according to jail records.

Arrested were Trevor Casey Giebell, 28, of Columbus, N.C.; Joseph Robert Brooks, 33, of Murrells Inlet; Lauren Ashley James, 25, of Cowpens; and Ashley Marie McGill, 25, of Traveler’s Rest.

Myrtle Beach police file charges in cross-dressing bank robbery

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:46 EST

A 19-year-old Conway man was charged Thursday morning with armed robbery in Myrtle Beach after being caught two days earlier following a manhunt, according to authorities.

Derek Manquel Brice, 19, was formally charged at the Myrtle Beach Police Department about 8:30 a.m. Thursday in connection with a Jan. 26 bank robbery where the suspect was dressed as a woman.

Brice was arrested Tuesday night after a manhunt near the Conway Golf Club after Conway police tried to stop his vehicle and he refused to stop, crashed it into a ditch and ran into a nearby wooded area, according to authorities.

Aynor man indicted in Surfside Beach area bank robbery

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:46 EST

An Aynor man was indicted on a bank robbery charge in connection with a robbery in November at a Surfside Beach area bank, according to Horry County grand jury indictments released this week.

Richard McLeod Jr., 44, was indicted on the charge that stemmed from an incident at 10:40 a.m. Nov. 16, when police said a man went into the First Federal Bank branch located inside the Wal-Mart store on Beaver Run Boulevard and gave a teller a note that demanded money, according to authorities.

After getting money, the man ran from the bank and witnesses watched him and called police. No weapons were presented during the robbery.

Police investigate meth lab found in vehicle near Surfside Beach area shopping center

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:18 EST

Horry County police investigated chemicals used for making methamphetamines found Thursday in a vehicle parked at a shopping center in the Surfside Beach area, Sgt. Robert Kegler said.

Narcotic detectives and Horry County Fire Rescue officials responded to the parking lot near Kohl’s along U.S. 17 Bypass South and S.C. 544 at the South Commons shopping center, Kegler said. Officers evacuated the area in the shopping center and nearby frontage roads for several hours, but determined there was no immediate danger in the area or to nearby residents.

Two men and two women were in police custody at the scene pending an investigation into the incident, Kegler said. Charges have not yet been filed. No officers were hurt or needed to be decontaminated during the incident, he said.

Horry County parents face child abuse charges involving 6-week-old

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:46 EST

The parents of a baby girl, who suffered a broken arm and other injuries, were indicted by an Horry County grand jury on child abuse charges, according to court records.

James Fargis, 29, and Ashley Bonass, 24, both of Little River, were each indicted on a charge of unlawful conduct toward a child stemming from the June 2 incident involving their 6-week-old daughter, according to indictments released Tuesday. Fargis also was indicted on a charge of inflicting great bodily injury upon a child and Bonass was also indicted on allowing infliction of great bodily injury upon a child.

Horry County police were contacted by a Department of Social Services investigator after DSS received a call from Seacoast Medical Center concerning a 5-week-old baby seen the early morning of June 2 in the emergency room for a spiral fracture to her arm, the police report stated.

N.C. man indicted on DUI charge in Surfside Beach motorcycle crash

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:46 EST

A North Carolina has been indicted by an Horry County grand jury on a felony driving under the influence with great bodily injury charge in connection with a motorcycle crash that occurred in August and seriously injured a woman, according to court records.

Jonathan Tyler Phillips, 35, of Shallotte, N.C., was indicted on the charge related to the Aug. 11 crash on Melody Lane in Surfside Beach, according to indictments released Tuesday. Phillips was charged Oct. 4 after he turned himself into police because he had been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Phillips has been free on $15,000 bail.

Proposed pollution legislation could impact AVX lawsuit

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:46 EST

Lawmakers are proposing legislation that would reverse a state Supreme Court ruling last year that gives private individuals – including those affected by pollution near the AVX Corp. manufacturing facility in Myrtle Beach – the right to sue violators of the S.C. Pollution Control Act.

Gene Connell, a Surfside Beach lawyer representing property owners near AVX, planned to include violations of the Pollution Control Act as a separate cause of action in his class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer. Connell said he is having second thoughts after a court hearing Wednesday because he is worried AVX will use the issue to delay a court case that now is in its fifth year. A trial is scheduled for next January.

Connell’s decision could be a moot point, however, if legislators approve a law limiting who can sue under the act.

Myrtle Beach man sentenced to 23 years in fatal vehicle crash, stabbing

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:05 EST

A Myrtle Beach man was sentenced to 23 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to seven charges that stem from a stabbing and fatal vehicle crash that occurred in 2010, according to authorities.

Johnny Samuel Foster, 30, of Myrtle Beach, pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence with death; possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime; assault and battery with intent to kill; resisting arrest; threatening the life of a public official and two counts of assault and battery on an EMS provider or firefighter, according to court records.

Foster pleaded guilty Monday before Circuit Court Judge Edward Cottingham, who sentenced Foster.

No cause of death yet discovered for inmate who died at J. Reuben Long in Horry County

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:55 EST

Kenneth Randy Norman, 49, died while in a holding cell at J. Reuben Long Detention Center early Saturday morning, and no cause of death has yet been discovered.

Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said it will take about 12 weeks for tissue and toxicology test results to be returned.

Norman was found unresponsive in his cell about 3:15 p.m. Officers alerted medical personnel, who initiated CPR. Emergency medical personnel took Norman to Conway Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Myrtle Beach area family still seeks answers in son’s death

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:47 EST

Clothes, movies, shoes, games, books and Bibles are spread across Danielle and Eric Eiler’s living room couch and table.

The items are among the personal effects of the couple’s 23-year-old son, Travis, which were shipped in seven packages to their Myrtle Beach area home last month.

And while they may finally have some of his belongings, they are no closer to learning what caused his Dec. 2 death in central Asia, where he’d been working with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Courthouse notebook | Employee lawsuits hit Surfside Beach insurance tab

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:29 EST

Employment-related lawsuits are having an impact on insurance costs for the town of Surfside Beach, which has seen its premiums for liability coverage jump by 37.5 percent since 2010 and could be in for another price spike in the coming year.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has recommended dismissing a pair of lawsuits filed by former police officers in North Myrtle Beach, saying the two women have not provided any evidence that their firings involved any form of discrimination on the part of the city or their supervisor, former Public Safety Director William Bailey.

The former police officers – Carol Johnson and Pamela Cooper – have 14 days to file an objection to the judge’s recommendation. Bonnie Hunt, a lawyer representing Johnson and Cooper, could not be reached for comment.