February 10, 2012

USC student accused of setting Columbia bar on fire

Officials have arrested a University of South Carolina student who is accused of setting fire to a popular bar near campus. USC police charged Theodore Podewil, 22, Wednesday for setting the blaze.

Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said Podewil has thrown “Molotov cocktails” at several locations in downtown Columbia over the past month, including the Salty Nut Cafe on January 6. The restaurant remains closed nearly a month later.

The Columbia Fire Department, USC Police, and the State Law Enforcement Division cooperated in the investigation.

Podewil is charged with three counts of possessing an explosive device– which carries up to a 20-year sentence. He also could face four additional charges.

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House passes bill to ban synthetic drugs

File

The South Carolina House of Representatives this week unanimously passed a bill which would ban 100 new chemicals that could be used to make synthetic drugs. The legislation cleared the House Wednesday and now heads to the Senate.

The Drug Enforcement Administration banned the chemicals used in the compound known as “bath salts” earlier this year, but manufacturers have already changed the compounds slightly so they are now legal again and sold as “glass cleaner.”

Rep. Anne Thayer helped draft the bill, working with a similar Kansas law. She says the 110 compounds are based on drug variations currently popular in other countries. She said the list gives the state a five-year advantage over the drug makers.

“Really good kids who wouldn’t go in a back alley and make a drug deal will buy something like this off the shelf thinking there’s nothing wrong with it,” Thayer told South Carolina Radio Network, “You’re buying it over the counter at your local gas station, so why would you think something’s wrong with it?”

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Police find meth lab in Wal-Mart parking lot

A Walterboro police officer said when he found a couple accused of stealing candy from Wal-Mart cooking meth in their car.
 
The Post and Courier newspaper reported that a Wal-Mart employee told police that Alvin Walling and the woman he was with, Kelsie Ammons, were shoplifting candy from the store and possibly had the stolen items in their car.
 
Authorities say that upon searching Walling’s car, police found what they at first thought to be an open container of alcohol. It turned out to be methamphetamine.
 
Walling and Ammons were both arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration was tasked to investigate the case further.

Mother of missing toddler denied bond

A Richland County judge denied a reduced bond request Tuesday for Zinah Jennings, the mother of Amir Jennings, who was reported missing in early December.

Zinah Jennings is the primary suspect in the case after Columbia Police say she gave investigators misleading information about Amir’s whereabouts.
 
The State newspaper reports that Jennings’ attorney, Hemphill Pride II, asked for a reduced bond for his client in a hearing on Monday. Pride told the court that Jennings was pregnant and in need of psychiatric help outside of the jail. He also claimed that she did not pose a flight risk since her family was willing to care for her.

The judge denied the request Tuesday, which leaves Jennings with her current bond set at $150,000.

Man accused of killing Aiken cop stays in jail

A judge has denied bond for the man charged with shooting and killing an Aiken public safety officer on Saturday.

The Associated Press reported that a magistrate ordered 26-year-old Joshua Tremaine Jones to remain in jail and set his bond at $10,000 on a weapons charge on Monday. The judge scheduled the next hearing for March 9.
 
Authorities say they found Jones’ pregnant girlfriend 21-year-old Cayce Vice dead in her apartment shortly after Master Corporal Sandra Rogers was fatally shot. They believe Jones killed his girlfriend, and then shot Rogers later. Rogers was the second Aiken police officer to be killed by shooting this month.

The suspect’s father, James Jones, told reporters that his son has mental problems.