Richland County deputies were shot at while trying to execute a search warrant on Broad River Road Thursday afternoon.

Richland County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Curtis Wilson said that narcotics agents were shot at when they tried to seach an apartment in the Brook Pine apartment complex in the 7000 block of Broad River Road about 6 p.m. They knocked on the door three times, Wilson said, and went into the apartment when no one answered. A suspect inside shot at the deputies, who fired back, Wilson said. Wilson said Frederick Withers II. 25, was arrested in the incident and is charged with attempted murder and drug charges. He was shot in the lowere body, but no one else was injured in the incident. He is being treated at Palmetto Health Richland.

―R. Darren Price

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2156237/deputies-involved-in-shootout.html#RSS=local

Some South Carolina magistrates are throwing out drunken-driving cases because the drivers were on mopeds, which are exempt from SC motor-vehicle laws.

But Wednesday, a state Senate committee approved a bill that would reclassify mopeds as a motor vehicle in terms of enforcing drinking-and-driving laws only.

You don’t need a driver’s license to drive a moped in South Carolina, making it a popular choice for drunken-driving offenders with suspended licenses. In the Senate version of the bill, DUI offenders with suspended licenses still could drive mopeds. But they would no longer be exempt from state drunken-driving laws.

The bill, originally sponsored by state Reps. Eddie Tallon and Derham Cole, both Spartanburg Republicans, passed the SC House last year. That version of the proposal would have considered a moped to be a motor vehicle in all aspects of the law.

State law defines a moped as having a motor of less than 50-cubic centimeters and not capable of going faster than 30 miles per hour.

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2154803/bill-would-end-dui-exemption-for.html#RSS=local

The West Columbia Police Department has arrested two women for defrauding unsuspecting victims of money under the guise of subleasing the victims’ apartments.

Investigators on Tuesday arrested Cynthia Louise Allen, 23, of West Columbia and Coreshia Malasia Henry, age 25, of Sumter. They were charged with obtaining goods by false pretense and have been released on bond from the Lexington County Detention Center, the department said.

Chief Dennis Tyndall said the victims of the scam were college students who placed ads on Craigslist seeking people to take over their student housing leases. The suspects would contact the victim and take money from them in exchange for assuming the lease contract. Once they had the victim’s money, the suspects would end communication with the victim but not assume the lease, leaving the victims responsible.

Tyndall reminded residents they should never pay someone to take over a lease and should instead have anyone who is subletting fill out the necessary contracts with the rental property staff.

From Staff Reports

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2155988/west-columbia-arrest-2-for-scamming.html#RSS=local

Some South Carolina magistrates are throwing out drunken-driving cases because the drivers were on mopeds, which are exempt from SC motor-vehicle laws.

But Wednesday, a state Senate committee approved a bill that would reclassify mopeds as a motor vehicle in terms of enforcing drinking-and-driving laws only.

You don’t need a driver’s license to drive a moped in South Carolina, making it a popular choice for drunken-driving offenders with suspended licenses. In the Senate version of the bill, DUI offenders with suspended licenses still could drive mopeds. But they would no longer be exempt from state drunken-driving laws.

The bill, originally sponsored by state Reps. Eddie Tallon and Derham Cole, both Spartanburg Republicans, passed the SC House last year. That version of the proposal would have considered a moped to be a motor vehicle in all aspects of the law.

State law defines a moped as having a motor of less than 50-cubic centimeters and not capable of going faster than 30 miles per hour.

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2154803/bill-would-end-dui-exemption-for.html#RSS=local

In life, Wayne Cook, Sharon Ward and Jacquelyn Hall shared no friendship or family ties.

In death, their remains rest side by side in the Richland County Cemetery, forever linked by lives controlled by addictions that left them estranged from family or with no money for a funeral.

On Wednesday, they were buried in the public cemetery with seven other people during a 30-minute ceremony led by a Baptist minister.

Jean Westmoreland, Sue Dockery and Jody Dockery arrived early to place three photographs in a white box containing Cook’s ashes. The three cared for Cook during his final years, patiently dealing with his drinking binges and growing to love his sense of humor and storytelling.

They held no family obligations. Westmoreland had met Cook more than 20 years ago when he was a student at Midlands Tech. Sue Dockery was his home health aide, and her husband, Jody Dockery, sometimes visited Cook just so the two could have “man talk.”

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2154795/troubled-in-life-dignified-in.html#RSS=local

Some South Carolina magistrates are throwing out drunken-driving cases because the drivers were on mopeds, which are exempt from SC motor-vehicle laws.

But Wednesday, a state Senate committee approved a bill that would reclassify mopeds as a motor vehicle in terms of enforcing drinking-and-driving laws only.

You don’t need a driver’s license to drive a moped in South Carolina, making it a popular choice for drunken-driving offenders with suspended licenses. In the Senate version of the bill, DUI offenders with suspended licenses still could drive mopeds. But they would no longer be exempt from state drunken-driving laws.

The bill, originally sponsored by state Reps. Eddie Tallon and Derham Cole, both Spartanburg Republicans, passed the SC House last year. That version of the proposal would have considered a moped to be a motor vehicle in all aspects of the law.

State law defines a moped as having a motor of less than 50-cubic centimeters and not capable of going faster than 30 miles per hour.

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2154803/bill-would-end-dui-exemption-for.html#RSS=local

Richland County deputies were shot at while trying to execute a search warrant on Broad River Road Thursday afternoon.

Richland County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Curtis Wilson said that narcotics agents were shot at when they tried to seach an apartment in the Brook Pine apartment complex in the 7000 block of Broad River Road about 6 p.m. They knocked on the door three times, Wilson said, and went into the apartment when no one answered. A suspect inside shot at the deputies, who fired back, Wilson said. Wilson said Frederick Withers II. 25, was arrested in the incident and is charged with attempted murder and drug charges. He was shot in the lowere body, but no one else was injured in the incident. He is being treated at Palmetto Health Richland.

―R. Darren Price

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2156237/deputies-involved-in-shootout.html#RSS=local

In life, Wayne Cook, Sharon Ward and Jacquelyn Hall shared no friendship or family ties.

In death, their remains rest side by side in the Richland County Cemetery, forever linked by lives controlled by addictions that left them estranged from family or with no money for a funeral.

On Wednesday, they were buried in the public cemetery with seven other people during a 30-minute ceremony led by a Baptist minister.

Jean Westmoreland, Sue Dockery and Jody Dockery arrived early to place three photographs in a white box containing Cook’s ashes. The three cared for Cook during his final years, patiently dealing with his drinking binges and growing to love his sense of humor and storytelling.

They held no family obligations. Westmoreland had met Cook more than 20 years ago when he was a student at Midlands Tech. Sue Dockery was his home health aide, and her husband, Jody Dockery, sometimes visited Cook just so the two could have “man talk.”

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2154795/troubled-in-life-dignified-in.html#RSS=local

Attorney General Alan Wilson and several top law enforcement chiefs Wednesday unveiled a list of 10 legislative priorities they said they will work to pass by the session’s end in June.

The priorities – mostly nuts-and-bolts criminal matters – address issues that have been percolating in the General Assembly for years but have so far failed to pass.

One, for example, would give prosecution and defense lawyers an equal number of strikes against potential jurors. Currently, defense lawyers have twice as many jury strikes as prosecutors for serious crimes such as murder and armed robbery.

The joint law enforcement lobbying effort was said by Wilson to be the first ever in the state. Different agencies have tended to go their own way and lobby lawmakers for narrow interests, Wilson said.

“There are so many things we agree on – it’s so important that we speak with one voice,” Wilson said.

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/16/2154804/law-enforcement-chiefs-reveal.html#RSS=local

A Columbia man described by the US Attorney’s Office in Columbia as a member of the Folk Nation gang has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for a series of armed robberies.

Alvin Owens, 24, was sentenced Feb. 9 after pleading guilty to conspiring to rob businesses that were involved in interstate commerce and two counts of using and carrying a firearm while committing a carjacking.

Owens admitted to robbing four businesses in the Columbia area between Dec. 14, 2009, and Jan. 13, 2010, including a convenience store and hair styling businesses, the US Attorney’s Office said. The carjacking was Jan. 3, 2010, in the Vista.

In addition prison time, Owens was ordered to pay $3,222 in restitution to his victims.

– Kelly Davis

http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/15/2154153/columbia-man-sentenced-in-2009.html#RSS=local