State Rep. Altman's son charged with assault
The son of a Charleston state legislator appeared in bond court Saturday on a charge of assault with intent to kill, Charleston County Sheriff's officials said.
State Rep. John Graham Altman III, a Charleston Republican and lawyer, ,represented his son Ernest Altman at Saturday's hearing. Magistrate Priscilla Baldwin set bail at $30,000, which Ernest Altman posted to secure his release.
Charleston County Sheriff's spokeswoman Capt. Dana Valentine said Ernest Altman, 41, was picking up his 4-year-old child for a weekend visitation Friday afternoon when he began arguing with the child's mother over a check.
Vicky Elizabeth Garner, 33, tried to place a check under the windshield wiper of his vehicle, which was parked on Silver Leaf Circle, Valentine said. Ernest Altman stepped on the gas and tried to strike Garner, Valentine said, adding Garner was not injured.
Charleston gets grant for police overtime
The U.S. Justice Department has awarded the city of Charleston a $372,562 grant for overtime expenses for dispatchers and response teams working in Operation CeaseFire, Sen. Fritz Hollings said Friday.
Operation CeaseFire is an initiative to decrease gun violence in Charleston and area communities.
"Gun violence is an epidemic that affects cities and towns across the country," Hollings said. "Operation CeaseFire has put together an impressive law enforcement task force that works with incident analysis, mapping and a gunfire detection system to stem the tide of gun violence in the city of Charleston and surrounding communities."
3 Gaffney boys accused of illegal solicitations
GAFFNEY--Police say three boys have been taken into custody after they went door-to-door saying they were collecting money for the American Red Cross.
The boys, ages 11, 15 and 16, collected about $4 Thursday before a resident called the charity and asked whether the boys were volunteers, police said.
"It's a shame these boys were trying to make a few bucks on the reputation of a nonprofit organization such as the Red Cross," Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald said. The money was returned to donors and the boys were released to their parents, police said.
Body found in woods behind shopping center
LEXINGTON--A man's body was found in a wooded area behind a shopping center off Interstate 26 on Saturday afternoon by a teenager who was trying to track down a lost soccer ball, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said.
The body was too decomposed to determine whether the man died naturally or was killed, Metts said. An autopsy is scheduled today. Metts said the body was fully clothed and found on a mattress.
Upstate woman dies during late-night swim
ANDERSON--A Starr woman who had been drinking drowned as she attempted a late-night swim across a cove on Lake Hartwell, authorities say.
Elizabeth Maners, 33, died about 11 p.m. Thursday after becaming exhausted swimming across the 100-yard cove, Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said.
An avid swimmer, Maners had already swum across the cove once. But on the return trip a friend saw her go under, Shore said. The friend pulled Maners' to shore, but paramedics could not resuscitate her, authorities said.
Shore said Maners had been drinking and the alcohol in her blood contributed to her death.
Two suspects arrested in Greenville slayings
GREENVILLE--Greenville County deputies have arrested two men in connection with a shooting that left two victims dead and a third man injured.
Amos Lamont Mattison, 32, and Britney Emanuel Ervin, 19, both have been charged with murder in the Thursday morning shooting, sheriff's spokesman Master Deputy Michael Hildebrand said.
Roberto Garcia, 37, died from gunshot wounds to the chest and pelvis, and Jorge Lemus-Patricio, 19, was killed by a bullet to the head, authorities said.
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