Columbia hit with series of indecent exposures
Columbia has been hit yet again with a string of indecent exposures, but this time it’s not on the USC campus.
On Sunday, a man exposed himself to a woman in a T.J. Maxx on Harbison Boulevard. He was having a conversation with her while holding a cutting board in front of him and then “he moved in such a way that she was able to see his genitals,” Columbia Police Special Victims Unit investigator Stephan Narewski told WIS.
Two hours later, a man approached a 10-year-old girl on Main Street and began exposing and fondling himself, according to police.
This comes after a man groped himself in front of a woman putting her groceries away in the parking lot of the Harbison Boulevard Walmart.
Narewski told WIS there are no clear leads in the case, as many victims tend to look at the men’s genitals instead of their faces.
—Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor
Rapper arrested while driving in Spartanburg
Hip-hop artist DMX may have lost his mind early Wednesday after being arrested for driving without a license in Spartanburg.
The Grammy-nominated rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, told FOX Carolina that a police officer saw him at a gas station and followed him before pulling him over and arresting him because he did not have a license. Simmons was booked into the Spartanburg County Jail at 2 a.m. and was released shortly after meeting with a judge at 6 a.m.
Simmons said his 5-month-old daughter was also in the car at the time of the arrest.
Deputies told FOX Carolina that Simmons had previously been given tickets for driving without a license in Greer and Duncan. According to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Simmons only had a state identification card when the previous incidents occurred.
—Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor
Senate moves to approve concealed weapons in bars
A state Senate panel approved a bill Wednesday that would allow concealed weapons permit holders to bring firearms into establishments serving alcohol if the owners allow it.
The bill was approved after the panel heard testimony from a dozen people expressing support for the measure and will now go to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration, The State reports.
Some of those who spoke at the hearing supported the permission of alcohol consumption while carrying a firearm or lessening the penalties for drinking while carrying.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Shane Massey of Edgefield, said allowing alcohol consumption while carrying would “doom the bill” and that a distinction between restaurants and bars would be difficult to make, considering most bars also serve food.
—Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor