Man arrested in armed robbery of gold ‘grills’
A man has been arrested in a case involving guns, kidnapping and stealing gold “grills” out of people’s mouths.
Valtori Chapman, 20, has been charged with six counts of armed robbery, seven counts of kidnapping and seven counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to the Columbia Police Department.
Police say Chapman forcefully entered a Center Street home shortly before 2 a.m. March 29 and demanded the seven people inside to get on the floor at gunpoint.
Chapman searched the home, victims’ pockets and vehicles for items to steal, according to police. He is also accused of stealing the gold grills out of some victims’ mouths as well as taking electronics and jewelry.
Chapman is believed to have worked with accomplices.
None of the victims were injured in the incident.
— Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor
Parents arrested after child found in Anderson
Anderson County sheriff’s deputies have identified a toddler abandoned on the front porch of a home and arrested her parents.
Zoe Brown, 4, of Marietta, Ga., is in the care of a foster family after being found in a stroller on an Anderson County home’s porch, WYFF reports. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said someone rang the home’s doorbell late Tuesday night and when the owners opened the door, they only saw the child.
The child’s parents, Alonzo Brown, 31, and Tongela Denise McBride, 37, were arrested and charged with unlawful neglect of a child Friday. Alonzo Brown was denied bond Saturday, and McBride is awaiting extradition in Cobb County, Ga.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Garland Major said officers found a diaper in the stroller Zoe Brown was in with a note that read, “Call DFAC, please.” Major said they took that to mean Georgia’s Division of Family and Child Services.
— Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor
Emergency room cuts average wait times
Palmetto Health Richland has cut average emergency room wait times by nearly an hour, The State reports.
Average wait times to see a physician have gone down from 74 minutes to 22 minutes. The number of patients treated in the emergency room per day has gone up, from 248 to 271, and the amount of patients who leave without seeing a doctor is down to 1.4 percent from about 10 percent.
These changes come from a recent overhaul of the hospital’s emergency room procedures. The hospital took three months to create a more “streamlined system,” The State reports.
Allison Turnley, director of emergency services, said wait times of 18 hours “were not uncommon.” Since changes have been implemented, some patients have been seen and discharged in as little as 16 minutes.
— Amanda Coyne, Assistant News Editor