Sheriff’s office investigating armed robbery
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an armed robbery that took place at the Folly Grocery on Seaside Road on St. Helena Island.
According to victims and witnesses, two African-American men wearing gray masks entered the store and demanded cash at gunpoint.
They took an undisclosed amount of cash and a mobile telephone.
There were no injuries reported.
Anyone with information is urged to contact 911 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC to remain anonymous and for a possible reward.
Man turns self in for attempted murder
Rasheem “Diego” Jones, 27, has turned himself in to the Beaufort Sheriff’s Office.
He was served with arrest warrants for attempted murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime related to an Oct. 10 shooting incident on S.C. 170 near Castle Rock Road in Burton.
Jones is being held at the Beaufort County Detention Center.
Report: Guns, drugs found in traffic stops
On Nov. 4-5, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office netted arrests for illegal drugs and handguns following traffic stops in Northern Beaufort County.
In one failure to stop for a blue lights incident in Seabrook and one traffic stop on Boundary Street in Beaufort, a total of four handguns and a distribution amount of marijuana were seized, a sheriff’s office report states.
The Seabrook incident started just after 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, on Trask Parkway, where Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Unit (SEU) deputies had shut down the road for a vehicle to be towed.
While monitoring traffic, a green Xterra approached, crossed the center line and sped past standing deputies, who had to quickly move to avoid being struck.
Deputies got into their patrol vehicles and pursued the Xterra, which sped up on Trask Parkway and did not stop. The Xterra drove onto Northfork Road, where it eventually stopped and the driver and passenger ran.
Deputies were able to catch up to the driver, identified as 25-year-old Quinton Watson of Seabrook, and apprehend him.
When deputies were handcuffing Watson, they observed he was allegedly attempting to bury a pistol under some leaves with his foot. The pistol was recovered and Watson was arrested without further incident, according to the report.
Watson was charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, driving left of center, failure to stop for blue lights, fleeing to evade and an open alcohol container violation.
He is being held on a $17,000 bond at the Beaufort County Detention Center.
A few hours later at approximately 1 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, another sheriff’s office SEU deputy was traveling on Boundary Street and observed a silver Chevrolet speeding.
The deputy activated the blue lights and the vehicle came to a stop on Boundary Street. When he approached on foot, the SEU deputy detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the Chevrolet, which was occupied by five male subjects.
Backup units were summoned by the SEU deputy to assist in further investigating the source of the marijuana odor.
The driver and occupants were ordered from the vehicle and were subjected to protective pat downs.
When patting down the Chevrolet’s front passenger, Jaquan Sanders, 19, of Seabrook, deputies allegedly discovered a pistol in the front pocket of his pants. The driver and other three occupants were not armed.
A K-9 unit sniffed the vehicle for marijuana and immediately alerted to the front passenger floorboard, where another pistol and a black backpack were discovered, the report states.
A search of the black backpack revealed yet another pistol and a jar containing several baggies of marijuana packaged for distribution, the report states.
When the serial numbers on the three pistols were run, two of the three were determined to have been reported stolen out of Beaufort County.
Sanders was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, three counts of unlawful carrying of a pistol and two counts of possession of a stolen pistol.
He is being held on a $45,440 bond at the Beaufort County Detention Center.
Police investigating Hilton Head shooting
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies recently responded to a report of gunfire in the parking lot of Hilton Head Gardens.
Numerous shell casings were found in the parking lot area, but no suspects were located.
At about the same time, a male gunshot victim showed up at the Hilton Head Regional Medical Center. Deputies then responded to the hospital to meet with the victim.
The victim reported that he was shot while still inside of his vehicle just after he arrived at Hilton Head Gardens. He further reported he did not know the identities of the subjects or their motive.
He was later transferred to Savannah Memorial for additional treatment of the single gunshot wound to his chest. While at the hospital deputies located the victim’s car in the parking lot and observed it had been struck by multiple projectiles.
The incident remains under investigation and the subjects are still at large. Anyone with information is urged to contact Investigator Ryan Chin at 843-255-3515 or CrimeStoppers 1-888-CrimeSC to remain anonymous and for a possible reward.
Yemassee man wanted by sheriff’s office
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information on the whereabouts of Wade McKeithen, 33, of Yemassee.
McKeithen is wanted for failing to appear for a bond revocation hearing in General Sessions Court regarding multiple felony firearms and drug offenses he was charged with over the past few months.
McKeithen is considered armed and dangerous, so do not approach him.
Call 911 or Master Sgt. Jeremiah Fraser at 843-255-3416 or CrimeStoppers 1-888-CrimeSC to remain anonymous and for a possible reward.
