A Charlotte man who overturned his vehicle Wednesday night near River Trail Elementary School was charged with felony DUI after the Fort Mill wreck caused his female passenger to suffer a broken hip bone, authorities said.
Preston White, 24, of Roland Drive, Charlotte, was driving a 2005 BMW 325 when he overturned in the woodline on Fort Mill Parkway near the school, a police report said. Fort Mill FIRE and EMS responded, and passenger Meredith Martone, 21, was taken to Atrium Health Main in Charlotte for a fractured hip bone.
White blamed the wreck on an animal running into the roadway and him running off the road to avoid hitting it, the report says. Officer J.B. Little noticed the driver slurring his words and failing to maintain his balance. A breathalyzer test showed White had a .12 blood alcohol content.
The suspect confessed to drinking two beers about an hour before driving, the report says. After being checked out at Piedmont Medical Center, White was taken to the county jail for felony DUI, where he remained Friday morning under a $20,000 bond.
In other crime news, DUI suspect Bascom Cranshaw of Fort Mill knocked down a stop sign and struck a mailbox on Spratt Street early Wednesday, according to a police report.
Cranshaw, 21, was found bleeding from the top of his head while sitting inside his wrecked pickup truck around 12:33 a.m. Wednesday. Officer D.S. Barfield determined that Cranshaw had “ran off the road into a ditch and rolled over several times resting on all four tires,” a report said.
The suspect was observed to be “lethargic” with slurred speech, bloodshot eyes with the odor of alcohol coming from his 1998 Isuzu Hombre. Police also found empty beer cans and other alcoholic beverages scattered on the ground around the site of the collision, a report says.
During an inventory of the vehicle, police found a smoking device used to smoke marijuana.
Crawnshaw was charged with DUI, operating uninsured and improper display.
On Gold Hill Road, a tow truck driver told deputies that a man pointed a gun at him.
According to a sheriff’s report, the tow truck driver was responding Wednesday to an accident at Gold Hill and Hwy. 160. The driver stated that a Hispanic male driving a black jeep Wrangler, pointed a gun at him while driving on Gold Hill Road.
The Jeep was located at the Pool House on Vandora Springs and Coral Stone. Deputies could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the Jeep. During a search of the Jeep, deputies found the hand gun and the driver, Saul Aguilar, admitted to the incident on Gold Hill Road.
Aguilar, 28, was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at another person, and possession of marijuana.
A Fort Mill man was charged Thursday with criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
According to Fort Mill police, Kamil Abdukodirov, 53, touched the private area of a 10-year-old girl on the outside of her clothes on Jan. 16. DSS has become involved in the case.
An investigation into the felony sex crime began in January with reports of possible abuse. DSS officials spoke with the girl and her mother, and the child was later placed into Emergency Protective Custody.
On Feb. 1, a warrant was issued for Abdukodirov. He surrendered on Thursday after returning from a tip to Alabama. He was held at the county jail under a $50,000 bond.
An arson was reported Wednesday at Pleasant Road at Hwy. 160 behind Sherwin Williams. Fire department responded to a fully-involved structure fire. Officials believe the fire was set intentionally. An investigation is ongoing.