In Our Towns | Man knocked unconscious, killed and robbed of cigarettes

Police say a man in Little River had his cigarettes stolen only after his throat was cut while he was already unconscious.

John Lee Monroe Scott, 35, of Loris, is charged with one count of murder and one count of armed robbery; and Jeffrey Michael Landacre, 20, of Little River, is charged with accessory to murder in the death of Johnny Ray Caulder, 51, who died Saturday night.

Horry County police officers were called at 9:30 p.m. Saturday to B and M Interiors on U.S. 17, Sgt. Robert Kegler said, and found Caulder dead in the parking lot.

During the investigation, Horry County police detectives learned that Caulder and Scott had argued earlier in the evening while walking home from a friend's house, Kegler said. The argument turned physical when Scott elbowed Caulder and left him unconscious in the parking lot of the business.

Police said Scott returned to the scene with a knife and cut Caulder's throat before taking his cigarettes, Kegler said.

Landacre knew about the incident after the initial assault, and he had knowledge of Scott's intent of the homicide but did not report it to police, Kegler said.

According to a background search in the State Law Enforcement Division's criminal database, the men have not be previously charged with any felonies.

Holiday traffic deaths down from 2009

Two people died on S.C. highways from 6 p.m. Wednesday to midnight Sunday, according to a preliminary report from the S.C. Department of Public Safety.

The two deaths - one in Sumter and the other near Loris - are a steep drop from the 2009 Thanksgiving weekend when nine people died in wrecks across the state.

On Sunday, Charmaine S. Cox, 47, was killed in a car crash on S.C. 66 near Loris.

The crash took place about 2 p.m. near the intersection of Secondary Highway 66 and Airport Road, said Lance Cpl. Sonny Collins with the S.C. Highway Patrol.

Horry County Coroner Robert Edge said the N.C. woman apparently lost control of her car, and it crossed the road and flipped several times. Collins said Cox was not wearing a seat belt.

As of Sunday, 706 people have died on S.C. highways in 2010, compared to 824 people during the same time period in 2009, officials said. Of the 524 motor-vehicle occupants who have died so far this year, 286 were not wearing seat belts.

Through midnight Sunday, 71 motorcyclists, 78 pedestrians and 11 bicyclists have died on state roads and highways. There have been 37 fatal crashes where the use of seat belts is unknown.

Police seek answers in woman's death

Horry County officials continue to investigate the death of a woman whose body was found earlier this month in a field near Myrtle Beach.

The woman's body was found Nov. 15 in a grassy field off Palmetto Pointe Boulevard by a 13-year-old boy and two of his friends, according to an Horry County police report.

Authorities sent the body to an anthropologist in Charleston to help determine her identity and cause of death, said Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard. No new information about the woman was available Monday, she said.

The woman is described as older with dark hair that had some gray in it, Willard said. The woman was approximately a size 8 or size 10.

The boy and his friends told police they were walking in a grassy field across from 3710 Palmetto Pointe Blvd., trying to find sticks to build a fort, when he saw the body, according to the police report. The teen said he told his friends and they all ran away from the location and met with his mother.

It is not known how long the woman's body was in the woods, but Willard said it was likely there for less than a year.

Police arrest four men after fight

Four men were arrested Sunday at Broadway at the Beach for a fight inside Crocodile Rocks, according to a police report.

Michael Edward Ingram, 53, Robert M. Ingram, 23, Vincent S. Mezzapella, 23, all of Myrtle Beach, and Peter Kutch, 36, of Clifton, N.J., were each charged with third-degree assault and battery, police said.

Police were called about 1:40 a.m. Sunday to Celebrity Circle for the incident in which a security guard told officers the men assaulted him and two others, police said. The guard told police he saw the men arguing with a bouncer from the business and a fight occurred between the men.

Woman charged with prostitution

A 45-year-old woman was arrested by Myrtle Beach police on a charge of prostitution, according to a police report.

Lisa Amanda McCowan, 45, of Myrtle Beach, was charged with second-offense prostitution at 12:30 a.m. Sunday in the 100 block of Seventh Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, police said.

An undercover officer saw McCowan walking and asked if she wanted a ride, according to the report. McCowan got into the vehicle and agreed to perform a sex act for $25.

Another officer stopped the vehicle and arrested McCowan, according to the report.

She was convicted of prostitution in 2005, as well.

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Batch plant plans killed in Carolina Forest area

Neighbors have prevailed in the argument against a planned concrete batch plant near Freestyle Music Park.

Property owner Myra Starnes withdrew her request to rezone 2 acres on Wesley Road just as the request was about to come before Horry County Council for third and final reading - and likely defeat - next week.

"We are celebrating because we see that the process does work," said resident Gerald Campisi, who lives on Burcale Road near Arrowhead golf club. "We think there's a lot that could be done with the area, but this just wasn't an appropriate use."

Neighbors and neighboring businesses have been lobbying against the rezoning request since it came before the council, but the request passed its first two readings and looked like it was headed for final approval.

However, a recent meeting and a volley of e-mails and calls from residents near Arrowhead golf club showed District 4 Councilman Gary Loftus just how much opposition the rezoning request and planned cement plant generated.

"If I get 10 e-mails from people, I know there's some passion about an issue," said Loftus, who requested the meeting with residents. "But this was, actually, incredible."

He said he had at least 50 e-mails - and not just copies of an original complaint but original pleas for help - plus phone calls. Residents requested a meeting with him recently, and Campisi said about 100 people turned out.

They expressed concerns about the dust that comes from a cement batch plant, because it is alkaline and abrasive, and about the noise of a plant operating overnight. They were also worried about the damage to Wesley Road from overuse by large trucks hauling supplies and cement.

"There were pros and cons, but the more I got into the issue, the more the cons outweighed the pros," Loftus said. "Wesley Road is one. It's a state road, so you can guess where it would stand on the list for repairs."

Starnes refused to comment, saying she was too busy.

Loftus sent an e-mail to residents letting them know about her withdrawal.

"Please know that your overwhelming response opposing the re-zoning got the attention of County Council, and made my job persuading other Council members to join me in opposition easier. In the end, I think that Ms. Starnes realized it was going nowhere and withdrew her re-zoning application," he wrote.

Batch plants have been a topic of concern in Horry County lately. The county is trying to figure out which of its 16 plants it can allow to operate several nights a month while large construction projects such as the back gate overpass and the Myrtle Beach International Airport terminal expansion are being completed.

The county has said projects like the new overpass at U.S. 17 Bypass and Farrow Boulevard and the airport's new and larger facilities must be worked on at night because the disruption to daytime traffic - including air traffic - is unacceptable.

Because cement for the projects must be mixed close to the time it's going to be used, some batch plants will get the OK to run at night.

Neighbors of the planned plant on Wesley Road were concerned at first because they thought it would run 24 hours a day, every day. Loftus said there was no guarantee the plant that would have gone on Starnes' land would have received permission to operate at night at all.

But the question is moot now, he said.

"Perception is reality, and they perceived it as a threat," Loftus said.

Campisi said neighbors are against any rezoning that would allow heavy industry in an area zoned for light industry, especially so close to houses and apartments. He said businesses around Starnes' property were also instrumental in lobbying against the rezoning.

"We don't want to bring one business in and chase all the others away," Campisi said.

Starnes has the option to bring the same rezoning request before the council again, or she can ask for a different rezoning or leave the property as is.

Whatever she or other property owners plan to do in the area, Campisi said, "we will be keeping an eye on it."

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