West Pelzer Police Officers recently investigated the following incidents:
On November 15, Chief Alexis Eliopoulos responded to the Sav-Way gas station and convenience store at 80 Main St., where store co-owner Amber London reported that a former employee had stolen several SC Lottery scratch off books and scanned them, cashing in the winners. London contacted the Lottery Commission’s security division and reported the thefts. She then went back and reviewed in-store surveillance tapes. According to reports, those tapes showed former employee Michael Dustin Gasque, WM, 27, 6’, 180 pounds, removing and scanning four different books of instant scratch off tickets, and cashing the winning tickets out of the cash register. The books were valued at $300 each, and a total of $640 worth of tickets were cashed in. As of the date of the police report, an additional nine books were missing from the store, and had been cashed at locations outside WPPD jurisdiction.
On December 9, Lt. Scott Stoller was contacted by a white female, 40, 5’3”, 137 pounds who complained that she had received a harassing phone call earlier that morning. The cell phone showed the call originated from the phone belonging to Marcus Anthony Holsclaw, WM, 46, 5’7”, 180 pounds. Stoller ran the man’s name through NCIC and discovered that an order of protection had been issued . Stoller intended to seek warrants for Holsclaw for violating that order.
On December 19, Lt. Scott Stoller pulled into the 7-11 at Highways 8 and 20 and observed an ACSO deputy conducting a traffic stop at one of the gas pumps. Deputy Kevin Shaw had two white females at the front of his car. One was in cuffs, having been found to have an outstanding warrant. The other, Carolina Amanda Lasley, WF, 32, 5’5”, 110 pounds, was acting oddly, giggling and appearing to be unsteady on her feet. She appeared to Stoller to be intoxicated but he smelled no alcohol. Under questioning, Lasley conceded that she had taken a couple flexaril muscle relaxers and some Gabapentin (a pain reliever) before driving to the store, with two children in the back seat. She was arrested and transported to ACDC and a copy of the report was faxed to DSS for review.
On December 28, Officer Ryan Marro was on patrol at the Midway Manor Apartments when he noticed a suspicious vehicle. The Ford Mustang was heavily damaged with a broken windshield, sideview mirror duct taped on, and various and significant body damage. Marro ran the tag, which came back as belonging to a 2006 Acura registered to a Kendra Barbre. A check of the vehicle identification number on the car showed that it was registered to a Jacob Hill.
A white male was working on a bicycle nearby and Marro asked if the car belonged to him. He said it belonged to his girlfriend, Alyssa Hill. Further questioning and investigation revealed that the man, Michael Clay Donahue , WM, 29, 5’7”, 155 pounds, had an outstanding warrant. An ACSO deputy was dispatched to transport Donahue to the ACDC.
On December 29, Chief Alexis Eliopoulos was running radar when she observed a silver sedan traveling at a high rate of speed. Radar indicated the vehicle was doing 44 mph in a 25 mph zone. She initiated a traffic stop and subsequently discovered that the driver, Jeronimo Martinez Lopez, Hispanic, M, 21 had no driver’s license. She summoned a licensed driver to the scene to retrieve the car. She wrote two citations , one for speeding and one for no driver’s license. Lopez was given a court date.
