Columbia City Paper

CHARLESTON

Charleston sailor on trial in Bermuda for drug running

A Charleston sailor on trial in Bermuda for allegedly smuggling around $30 million worth of marijuana says he was held without arraignment, not given access to a lawyer and subjected to a questionable search when he was arrested onboard his boat while out at sea last fall.

Andrew “Steve” Blatchley, a well-known and well-liked figure in the Lowcountry sailing community, and his Canadian co-defendant are facing a three-week trial before Bermuda’s Supreme Court.

“In America, any one of these would get the case thrown out,” Blatchley said in a letter from Bermuda’s Westgate Prison, according to the Charleston Post and Courier. “Not Here.”

Blatchley and two passengers were leaving Bermuda on a course toward Jamaica after docking the 36-foot sailboat “Bomba Shack” for repairs. The group was boarded by Bermuda law enforcement 14 miles off the island’s coast, Blatchley says.

Blatchley’s wife, Sandi, who lives in the Charleston area, says she believes her husband will be acquitted and freed, calling her husband’s arrest an error.

FLORENCE

Rabid fox ruins Darlington man’s morning

A Darlington man is recovering from multiple rabies shots after being bitten by a rabid fox while walking outside to get the morning paper.

Roy Martin told the Florence Morning News he felt something nipping at his ankle and at first thought it was his cat. When he turned to look, a red fox leapt at him and bit him on his inner thigh. He whacked it with his newspaper, he said, and the fox fled toward the tree line.

“It was acting crazy, like it was messed up in the head,” Martin told the Morning News.

Martin took 10 rounds of rabies shots and was later cleared by a doctor. The ex-postal carrier, who said he has been bitten by dogs at least 13 times, said he’s had enough and now walks to get the paper in the morning armed with a golf club.

“I got me a good chipping wedge,” he told the Morning News. “I don’t play much golf anymore, but if I ever run into another rabid fox, he’s going to think he’s being hit out of a bunker.”

Cops cracking down on pets left unattended in cars

Florence County Councilman, Dr. Morris Anderson, a retired veterinarian, is backing a move by Florence police to crack down on pet owners who leave their animals locked in cars during the summer heat.

“If you leave an animal in a car with the windows and doors shut, it’s like putting the animal in an oven, cutting it on and leaving him there,” Anderson told the Florence Morning News.

Since June, Florence police have arrested five people for leaving animals in extreme heat.

Last week police responded to a call about a dog locked in a vehicle around 1:20 p.m. at a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Officers ran the tag number and had management page the owner. Police said the dog, which had been in the car for over an hour, was so overheated when it was finally freed that it attempted to lick condensation off the bottom of other vehicles and guzzled several bottles of water. The owner was charged with ill treatment of animals.

“The high temperatures we have here are almost unbearable for animals,” Anderson said. “Leaving animals in these situations is punishment beyond belief. It’s torture, plain and simple.”

GASTONIA

Toddler recovering after shooting self in liquor store parking lot

A 3-year-old boy who shot himself in the thumb while playing with a gun he found in his family’s car is recovering from his injuries.

The incident happened in the parking lot of an ABC liquor store. According to authorities, a man, who may have been the boy’s father or stepfather, left the child and the boy’s mother in the car while he went inside to make a purchase. Witnesses said moments later they heard a gunshot and saw the mother carrying the boy into the store. He was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Police said the boy found the gun in the car and picked it up. So far no charges have been filed.

GREER

Argument leads to stabbing, more arguing

Greer police have arrested a man after he allegedly argued with a woman, stabbed her and then continued arguing with her.

Police said Clarence Brookshire, 58, argued with an unidentified woman, told her “I will kill you,” and then stabbed her in the chest with a knife. When police arrived on the scene they said the couple was arguing about who stabbed who first.

Clarence Brookshire has been charged with attempted murder.

SPARTANBURG

Robber targeted man’s KKK collectible, police say

A 32-year-old Boiling Springs man called police when he noticed the storage area of his home had been burglarized. Among the items missing was a Ku Klux Klan Case knife. The man, who said he owns a set of 100 Klan knives, told police that the stolen piece was engraved with “The White Brotherhood,” the three Klan crosses and the number 66.

Other items stolen included six Zippo lighters, some engraved with “Daddy.”