High-speed, multi-county pursuit

2 men were captured last Monday by Swansea Police Chief Cliff Hayes.

According to Chief Hayes, Furman Prickett, 41, and Jason Poole, 33, have been charged with failure to stop for a blue light, possession of methamphetamine, driving under suspension, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of a weapon by a felon.

Chief Hayes said the pair had a number of stolen licences plates in the car with them when they were stopped. One of the two already had an ankle monitor on as a condition of release by another agency.

Hayes noticed a vehicle with an expired tag on SC 6 near Swansea high school.

He pursued the suspects into Calhoun County, where deputies there assisted in stopping the pursuit.

Speeds reportedly reached more than 90 miles per hour.

Hayes was able to stop the car by spinning it out of control.

Both men were booked into the Lexington County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.

3rd arrest made in murder case

A third person has been charged in connection to the killing of a Monroe, NC mother of 5.

2 men identified as suspects, 25-year-old Byron Watkins and 19-year-old Antwan David Sturdivant, have been arrested and charged.

Police arrested 30-year-old Kristen Chambers last Tuesday.

Chambers was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary and accessory after the fact to 1st-degree murder.

Lucero Sosa Capote was killed during a break-in at her home on Tower Court July 12.

Capote was shot and killed while trying to protect her children. 2 of her children were injured, according to reports.

Officials say Watkins and Sturdivant are the 2 who broke into Capote’s home.

Watkins, who deputies say was considered “armed and extremely dangerous,” was arrested in Lexington County following a standoff with officers.

Both Watkins and Sturdivant face first-degree murder, among other charges.

Chambers turned herself in to the Union County Jail. She was placed under a $500,000 bond.

Lexington man arrested in shooting

A Lexington man is charged with attempted murder after deputies said he shot a woman in his driveway last Tuesday morning.

James Mason Stork, 29, is charged with 3 counts of attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and discharging a firearm into a car, according to arrest warrants.

“Detectives talked to multiple witnesses who said Stork stepped out of his house on Mansfield Circle and fired shots toward a car after it pulled into his driveway,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “One woman was shot in the face.”

Doctors said the woman’s injury is not life-threatening, according to Koon.

“The woman was a passenger in the car,” Koon said. “The driver and a man standing near the car when the shots were fired were not injured.”

Stork is being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.

Sex offender gets 21-year sentence

Sex offender William Derek Bennon, 47, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.

The trial began on Monday, August 5 and concluded that Thursday afternoon when the jury returned a guilty verdict on both charges.

Bennon abused his victim for years between 1998 and 2004.

Bennon received a sentence of 21 years, concurrent, for each count of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor – 1st degree, which involved a child under the age of 11.

Circuit Court Judge Frank R. Addy Jr. imposed the sentence.

Bennon will be transported to the SC Department of Corrections to begin immediate service of the prison sentence.

County firefighter arrested for domestic violence

A Lexington County firefighter has been charged with domestic violence after deputies responded to a reported assault at his apartment Sunday night.

Christopher Andrew Hinson, 32, is charged with 3rd-degree domestic violence, according to police records.

A woman at Hinson’s apartment told deputies Hinson forcefully pushed her into a wall, which she said caused her to fall and lose consciousness.

Hinson told deputies the woman tripped and fell down the stairs of his Low Hill Lane aparment, according to the police report. Hinson told deputies he did not try to catch the woman as she fell.

Hinson is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center while he awaits a bond hearing.

Former police chief faces 10 years

A former Columbia police chief faces 10 years in federal prison.

Randall G. Scott, 50, of Richland County, pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

On July 18, 2018, US Marshals executed an arrest warrant at Scott’s house looking for a fugitive.

Agents found a large number of guns in the house and a small amount of methamphetamine.

One of the persons in the house, identified in court records as J.O., told the officers she and Scott had done meth before the police arrived.

One of the guns belonged to the City of Columbia. It was issued to Scott while he was Chief of Police and had not been returned.

The maximum penalty Scott faces for this charge is 10 years in federal prison and/or a fine of $250,000.

The case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, and Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys William K. Witherspoon and T. DeWayne Pearson of the Columbia are prosecuting the case.