In Island Green, a resident recorded a video of bridge damage. She was taken to jail.
A resident of one of the Island Green neighborhoods in the Burgess area of Horry County was arrested for trespassing last week after a developer building homes in the area pressed charges, according to the woman and police records.
Last month, Island Green resident Dawne Dunton said she grew concerned when she noticed a bridge over a creek leading to the new home construction had been damaged. She recorded a video of her walking near the damage and said she worried that it was a public safety issue. In the video, she said she worried that children, cyclists or drivers might try to drive over the damaged bridge — part of which had washed out following rain — and get hurt.
“This is the shoddy work that they’ve done. This is what they’ve done to our community. This is what they’ve done to our pond,” Dunton said in the video, which she posted to Facebook and YouTube. “Two, almost three inches of rain yesterday and this is what happens, the road happens. This has got to stop. They don’t care about our safety.”
Dunton recorded and posted the video on Oct. 10.
Several weeks later, on Oct. 27, police officers arrived at Dunton’s home and arrested her. Dunton said she was taken to the county jail — the J. Reuben Long Detention Center — and held for several hours before she was released.
“I was not given any kind of notice or warning, I just had a police officer come to my door and put handcuffs on me and I wasn’t even read my rights,” Dunton told The Sun News the day after she was released.
According to Horry County police reports, the developer Robert Williamsen, who is building the homes in Island Green, reported Dunton to police and pressed trespassing charges against her because of the video she posted.
In the police report, Horry County Police officer Joseph Dodd met a construction worker near the site where Dunton filmed her video on Oct. 11. The construction worker, Dodd wrote, told him about the damage to the bridge that Dunton had filmed.
“Prior to the weekend, they placed a foundation down for the roadway but during the weekend, the area had a large amount of rain and it ruined the foundation of the road,” the report reads. “This then developed cracks, breaks, and obvious damage to the roadway.”
At issue, according to the police report and Dunton, is whether or not “No Trespassing” signs were posted near the entrance to the bridge. According to the police report, the construction worker told police the site had signs reading, “Private Property, Trespassing is strictly prohibited” near the bridge. Dunton maintains that no such signs were posted when she was there filming the video. Her video recording does not show any “No Trespassing” signs.
“There (were) no signs, no barrels to block that road. Someone could have been hurt…I tried to block it off so no one would get hurt,” Dunton said.
Under South Carolina law, “No Trespassing” signs are considered enough of a warning that police can press trespassing charges against a person if they violate such a sign.
The police report states that the construction worker said “No Trespassing” signs had been placed at “all entrances to the construction site” and that Dunton, on Oct. 10, “began filming herself, live on social media, complaining about the damage and condition of the road under construction. (Dunton) continued filming on the property for roughly 25 minutes before leaving. (Dunton) mentioned during the filming that she will do whatever she can to stop the construction.”
The report goes on to say that the police officer contacted Williamsen, who said he wished to press charges.
“I reached out to (Williamsen) and informed him of the situation and he told me that he wanted to press charges for trespassing as the property has greater than four posted “no trespassing” signs and it is dangerous for the public to walk on an active construction site,” the report said.
Attempts to reach Williamsen via phone for this story were unsuccessful. Williamsen also did not reply to questions sent to an email address listed for him.
Development in Island Green
The Island Green community contains wetlands and borders the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, meaning creatures from otters, to great blue herons to snapping turtles, red-shouldered hawks and tufted titmouse all live in the area. Residents like Dunton oppose new building in the area because it could encroach on the habitat where those animals live.
A large portion of the area used to be a golf course, and many of the homes there were built before universal county building codes were in place. Only one road, Sunnehanna Drive, leads in and out of the area. County building codes now say that communities with that many homes have to have at least two entrances and exits.
In 2019, county leaders approved plans for developers to develop the golf course, which closed in 2016, into 300 more homes. Part of that agreement said developers should pay to repave roads in the neighborhood, like Sunnehanna Drive, after construction of the homes are complete.
Some of the roads in the community, including Sunnehanna Drive, are already deteriorating. Because the roads are not under Horry County’s control, the land owner, Williamsen, is responsible for paving them. In the past, residents failed to reach an agreement to fund repairs of the roads themselves.
The arrest
Dunton said she was at home in the apartment she shares with her fiance, drinking coffee, when a police officer arrived. At first, Dunton said, she didn’t think anything of it. A neighbor had been arrested several times previously, she said, and she thought the officers were there for him.
But the officers were there to arrest her, she said.
The officer allowed her to put on a sweatshirt, she said, and she was taken to jail. She was searched and made to change into an orange shirt, she said. She called the experience “humiliating” and that she broke down crying several times during the experience. Dunton also said she suffers from an anxiety disorder and had multiple panic attacks during the day.
“It was the most humiliating experience I’ve ever had to deal with,” Dunton later wrote on Facebook. “I got no warning...I was arrested and made to feel like a criminal.”
Since she’s been released, Dunton said she’s going to fight the charges and rally the community to support her. She’s set to appear in court Dec. 6. During a live Facebook call over the weekend, several of Dunton’s neighbors and friends spoke up in her support.
“They’re basically just going off of that video footage. It comes down to Dawne has been pushing and backlashing this entire time and...basically, they’re just trying to use her as a guinea pig to say ‘Try to mess with us, you’re not going to get anywhere,’” Shana Bury said during the call.
Dunton said she’ll stand her ground.
“I’m not going to crawl in a corner and think they got me,” she said. “I’m going to fight this.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 10:34 AM.
