Fire code violations close N. Augusta club
Law enforcement has closed a North Augusta teen club plagued by problems.
The North Augusta Department of Public Safety closed Club Fusion, on Jefferson Davis Highway, on Monday because of the club's violation of several fire codes, Chief John Thomas said.
Deputies observed the violations when investigating a report of a bomb threat about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, he said. The department, the Aiken County Sheriff's Office and the South Carolina Highway Patrol evacuated the building, but no explosives were found, according to a police report. Officers reported hearing gunshots in the parking lot after the evacuation.
The club cannot reopen until the building is brought up to code.
5 arrested for vehicle tampering
North Augusta police arrested five men on charges of tampering with a motor vehicle and one charge of unlawful carrying of a pistol on Nov. 9.
An officer was dispatched to the Brickton Place Apartments on Bama Avenue after a witness reported several men in jackets and hoods looking into vehicles.
As the responding officer arrived, a silver Dodge Intrepid with passengers matching the witness' description tried to leave the parking lot.
The suspects appeared nervous, gave different accounts of their activities. When the occupants exited the vehicle, the officer observed a Sony car stereo and a loaded .38 Rossi revolver.
Officers noticed at least one car missing a stereo, and found at least one stereo in a suspect's backpack.
All five suspects were arrested. Travis Maurice Avery, 24, of Boykin Road; Cheron Amontre Witcher, 18, of Lionel Street; Joshua Terrell Avery, 21, of Boykin Road; and Justin Terrell Dooley, 19, of Saploe Street, were each charged with tampering with a motor vehicle. Bruce Jevon Dixon, 21, of Jennifer Court, was charged with tampering with a motor vehicle and unlawful carrying of a pistol.
Man caught with candy, drugs
A Decatur, Ga., man was arrested on drug charges Nov. 11 after he was caught shoplifting.
According to an incident report, Breyon Anterrance Alexander, 21, shoplifted two tubes of toothpaste and a six-pack of Twix candy bars from Publix on Martintown Road.
Officers found marijuana, ecstasy and hydrocodone pills in his pockets. Alexander is charged with shoplifting, simple possession of marijuana and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Shoplifter leads police on chase
An Augusta man shoplifted a television from the North Augusta Walmart and led police on a chase into Augusta.
After Chad Keith Stensrud, 25, of the 1700 block of Starnes Street, walked out of the Walmart on Knox Avenue with the television Nov. 13, officers caught up with him at the intersection of Knox Avenue and Martintown Road. Stensrud led police on a chase through North Augusta. Officers deployed stop sticks at the intersection of Georgia and Spring Grove avenues.
Stensrud swerved into oncoming traffic and sideswiped a police car to avoid the stop sticks. He continued into Augusta, where he wrecked his vehicle on 14th Street and fled on food. Officers caught Stensrud in the parking lot of Curtis Baptist Church.
Stensrud is charged with shoplifting, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to stop for blue lights and siren.
Barber shop robbed at gunpoint
Police are looking for two men who robbed a North Augusta barber at gunpoint Sunday.
The shop's owner told police that at 9 p.m., two men entered Hats Off Grooming Lounge on E. Buena Vista Avenue and told him, "This is a robbery," according to an incident report.
The victim threw $150 on the floor, which the robbers grabbed along with his and two customers' cell phones.
The men ran toward the parking lot of Rivers Edge Apartments.
Anyone with information should call North Augusta Public Safety at (803) 279-2121.
No charges will be filed Adams' death
Chatrice Evans will not be charged in the death of Bill Adams, said North Augusta Public Safety's Lt. Tim Pearson.
"There was no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on the part of Ms. Evans," he said.
Adams, 72, died Nov. 8 after being struck by a vehicle driven by Evans on Seymour Drive.
Pearson said two contributing factors were that Adams was in the roadway at the time of the incident and sunlight glare made it difficult for Evans to see.
Though residents have complained to public safety about speeding in the area in the past, it was not a factor in this case, Pearson said.
Suspect flees after car rams into clinic
Authorities arrested a man Sunday suspected of carjacking who led North Augusta police on a chase before escaping on foot.
North Augusta Public Safety officers spotted a man Friday they identified as Anthony Tashawn Perry, 24, of Celeste Avenue, driving a gold 2002 Ford Explorer south on U.S. 25 around noon. When officers tried to stop the car it sped away, according to Public Safety Lt. Tim Pearson.
That chase ended when the vehicle crashed into the North Augusta Chiropractic building on Knox Avenue. A suspect then fled on foot.
Officers found Perry at his residence on the 2000 block of Celeste Avenue after receiving a call about a suspicious person, according to a press release Monday.
