Woman allegedly eats drugs at police checkpoint
Police say a Summerville woman ate drugs found in her car while getting arrested at a driver’s license checkpoint.
Shantia Shalar Simmons, 25, was stopped at the checkpoint in Eutawville while she was driving with two children and a 32-year-old man when officers noticed a bag of what appeared to be marijuana in her vehicle, WIS reported.
After placing her in handcuffs, officers noticed another bag of what appeared to be cocaine on the car’s floor. Officers confiscated both bags and placed them on the trunk of a police cruiser near Simmons.
Officers then noticed that the bag of cocaine was missing and a handcuffed Simmons was eating something. She refused to spit it out, even after officers pepper-sprayed her.
Officers found 30.9 grams of marijuana and 3.9 grams of cocaine in the vehicle.
—Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor
11-year-old leads officers on chase near Charlotte
An 11-year-old from Gaffney led officers on a low-speed chase shortly after being reported missing early Monday morning, WIS reported.
After getting into a fight with her father that resulted in her finger being broken, the girl took the keys to her father’s pickup truck and drove toward Charlotte. She intended to go to Fort Mill, where she had friends.
When a Charlotte police officer tried to pull her over and she didn’t stop, the chase began.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol assisted in her apprehension, stopping her on Interstate 77 near Interstate 85 in Charlotte, after chasing her for a few miles.
When the girl was approached by troopers, she began shouting that she was only 11 years old.
She was taken to a nearby hospital, and it’s not yet known whether any charges have been filed.
—Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor
Student late to class spurs fears at SC State
A late student running to class led some to believe that an armed man was on the South Carolina State University campus Tuesday, WIS reported.
The student parked off-campus and attracted attention when he sprinted from the parking spot towards campus. A staff member was suspicious and alerted police.
Officers then tracked the student down and determined that he was neither armed nor a threat to SC State students; he had just taken an unusual route to class.
The university’s police department was initially notified that there may have been a trespasser on campus.
University officials attributed the high alert within the community to social media, which they say allowed it to escalate to “an unofficial announcement” of a threat that was never there.
—Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor