Mum’s the word on stolen snack truck WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014
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SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 3 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES | VOL. 119, NO. 226
No info on condition of chips, candy bars BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com (803) 774-1225 Maybe he just had somewhere he needed to be. Or perhaps it was a case of the munchies. Either way, he’s keeping it all for himself, and though officers have their person, they haven’t found the stolen snack truck. Officials with Sumter County Sheriff’s Office are looking for a snack vendor’s truck that was reportedly stolen by a passer-by
FOOD
Monday after a brief encounter with its owner. Anthony Todd Black, 47, was arrested Monday and is now facing a charge of grand larceny for the theft of the vehicle and its contents. Despite efforts by investigators, Black won’t give them the location of the truck. “The last thing he said to us was, ‘I’m not talking about it anymore,’” recalled Lt. Robert Burnish of the sheriff’s office. According to reports, the owner of the truck was restocking a
snack machine in the 2800 block of Broad Street Extension on Monday when a white man reportedly approached him and asked for a ride to the interstate. The owner then told the man that he couldn’t help him. The suspect then reportedly asked for money and a drink. When the driver told the suspect that he couldn’t give him either, the man then jumped in the snack truck and headed down U.S. 378.
SEE SNACK TRUCK, PAGE A7
Sumter’s bridges falling down Bulk up your BLT This fried fish pita will fill you up without adding fat C2 NOT READY FOR BABY?
Mom tells son’s girlfriend about importance of using birth control C6 DEATHS, B6 Danny B. Brinson Sammie J. English Herbert A. Mosier Andree P. Davis Mary Lee Curtis
Mary Thomas Lewis Johnson Dont’a O. Wilson Deborah D. Alford
CATHERINE FOLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
A new weight restriction has been imposed on this East Brewington Road bridge over Mulberry Branch. Heavier vehicles — those with five tons per axle or seven tons total weight — might not be able to cross the bridge safely.
WEATHER, A8 PLEASE, WEAR DEODORANT TODAY You’re gonna sweat, but a possible shower tonight might provide some relief
Many local structures are deemed unsafe
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BY CATHERINE FOLEY reporter@theitem.com (803) 774-1295 More than 20 bridges in Sumter County now have weight restrictions, as the South Carolina Department of Transportation recently added the East Brewington Road crossing over Mulberry Branch to the list of bridges with potential structural deficiencies. SCDOT posted a detour to bypass the Brewington Road bridge last week after a recent investigation led officials to determine that heavier vehicles — those with five tons per axle or seven tons total weight — might not be
able to cross the bridge safely. The East Brewington Road bridge was constructed in 1958, making it one of the older bridges in Sumter. According to DOT officials, because of the bridge’s age, the timber piles used for support are gradually decaying. Vehicles facing the weight restriction now face a three-mile detour route to avoid the bridge. The bridge has been placed on a replacement list; however, DOT officials say there are no definite plans as to when that might occur. Before construction can begin, each project must be approved, which officials say can take multiple months. Ultimately, it could take up to two years before the bridge is replaced. “There are a lot of bridges that need to be completely replaced,” said Robert Dickinson, District 1
maintenance engineer with DOT, who added the state has been hampered by funding issues. While the organization sets aside funding for bridge maintenance, Dickinson said there is only enough to replace about six to eight bridges in the area per year, depending on the length. Last year in Sumter County, six projects were completed using in-house crews and equipment. For 2014, there are three bridges scheduled to be replaced. There are two additional bridges that have been approved, but it is likely that construction will not begin until late 2015 to early 2016. Last year, the South Carolina General Assembly provided additional funding for bridge replacement, resurfacing and mainline interstate projects across the state.
SEE BRIDGES, PAGE A7
Sheriff: Video shows usefulness of criticized MRAP nated to local law enforcement by the U.S. military, in an early morning raid just this past May, and it has the video It’s the “most criticized vehi- to prove it. In the video shown to memcle we ever got.” bers of Sumter County CounThat’s how the sheriff decil this week and posted to scribed his department’s MRAP, the military-style vehi- theitem.com, the heavily arcle donated to the department mored carrier can be seen from the dash camera of a for SWAT-type missions, a decision that’s been criticized as sheriff’s patrol car as it rolls a waste of money on a hulking up to a mobile home near Rembert and disgorges armed vehicle that wouldn’t be any members of the Sheriff’s use for ordinary police work. Emergency Response Team, But the MRAP isn’t meant who storm into the home after for ordinary police work, said the bright burst of a “flashSheriff Anthony Dennis, but bang” grenade can be seen. SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO for extraordinary incidents The raid netted nine arrests when extreme force is necesCapt. Terrance Colclough helps the MRAP Caiman back out in the and some $240,000 worth of parking lot of the Sumter County Sheriff’s department recently. Sher- sary. The sheriff’s office made use drugs. iff Anthony Dennis has defended the usefulness and necessity of “the Use of the MRAP under most criticized vehicle we ever got,” citing video released to The Sum- of its Mine Resistant Ambush these circumstances was necter Item of its use in a drug raid earlier in May. See the video online at Protected vehicle, a weaponsessary because deputies had resistant combat vehicle dotheitem.com.
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272
been informed the suspect inside the house was armed with an AK-47. “We thought about calling the ATF or State Law Enforcement Division, but we had to have our SWAT team hit it the next morning,” Dennis said. If the situation had called for it, Maj. Allen Dailey said, “it could drive through the house.” In addition to the MRAP, the sheriff’s office used a grant to purchase special $4,000 vests that can withstand bullets from high-powered assault rifles such as those carried by the Rembert suspect, which could penetrate the vests normally worn by law-enforcement officers. In an environment where
SEE MRAP, PAGE A7