The Union County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a series of incidents involving the theft of a variety of items including firearms and other weapons from a private residence; copper bars and plates from the sites of two cell phone towers; an air conditioner stolen from a rental property, a fence and gate from a cemetery; and furniture, collectible items and two pairs of sneakers from a porch.
Weapons Stolen
Some unlocked windows may have provided a thief or thieves with the means to enter a Pauline residence and steal $6,900 worth of firearms and other weapons.
The incident report states a deputy was dispatched July 14 to 298 Carben Road, Pauline, in reference to a larceny. The victim said when he arrived home that evening he notice several weapons were missing from his gun cabinet. The missing weapons included:
• A Winchester 30-30 with “Ronald Fleming” engraved into the metal frame ($400).
• A Remington .270 Mountain Rifle with scope ($800).
• A Weatherby over and under 12-gauge shotgun ($3,000).
• A Winchester 12-gauge turkey shotgun ($400).
• A Remington 348 limited edition lever action rifle ($1,200).
• A Remington 20-gauge shotgun with camouflage stock ($400).
• A Ruger 243 rifle with scope ($350
• A Llama .22-caliber semi-automatic blue steel handgun ($50).
• A bone handle hunting knife with 4-6 inch blade ($50).
• An unknown make/model bow and arrow ($200).
The items were taken sometime between 6 p.m. June 29 and just after 11 p.m. July 14. All the doors to the residence were locked but some of the windows had been left unlocked. There were no signs of forced entry.
Copper Plates, Bars Stolen
A fence was no obstacle to the thief or thieves who cut their way through it to steal nearly $2,000 worth of copper from an AT&T Wireless cell phone tower site.
The incident report states a deputy was dispatched Wednesday to the AT& T Wireless cell phone tower on Fullbright Circle in reference to the larceny of copper. An AT&T wireless employee said that sometime between May 18 and that morning, someone cut a hole in the fence surrounding the tower and took two large copper plates and two copper bars. The stolen copper has an estimated value of $1,900.
In the course of his investigation, the report states the deputy collected a cut piece of copper, a metal bracket, and an energy drink bottle as evidence. The piece copper and the bracket were found inside the fence and the drink bottle on the ground outside near where the fence had been cut.
More Copper Bars Stolen
Another AT&T Wireless cell phone tower site was also the target of a thief or thieves who in this instance cut a pair of copper bars off the tower itself.
A deputy met the afternoon of July 19 with an AT&T Wireless employee at the cell phone tower site at 119 Hawkins Road. The employee said that sometime between April 23 and that morning, someone entered the site and cut two copper bars off the tower. He said the bars were part of the tower’s grounding system. The employee said the bars are approximately 2 1/2 feet long and have a combined value of $1,500.
An investigator was called to the scene and the responding deputy photographed the damage done to the cell tower and also collected three brackets found on the ground near where the bars were taken.
Air Conditioner Stolen
The thief or thieves who targeted a house in Jonesville not only stole a window air conditioning unit, they also damaged the window in the process.
The incident report states a deputy was dispatched the afternoon of July 13 to 298 Wheatfield Road, Jonesville, in reference to a burglary that had occurred at 428 Bob Little Road, Jonesville. The victim said that sometime between July 3 and that afternoon someone broke into his rental property through a back window and stole a Frigidaire window heating and air conditioner unit.
The unit has an estimated worth of $650, but the victim said the thief or thieves also did $500 worth of damage to the window. He said the unit was bolted to the window frame and the thief or thieves tore the sheet rock from around the window to gain access to the bolts.
Cemetery Gate Stolen
A cemetery’s gate and fence were the target of a thief or thieves move have also vandalized the cemetery as well.
The incident report states a deputy was flagged down the morning of July 15 by the complainant who said she’d received a letter from a man from researches and visits Rogers Methodist Cemetery. The complainant said the man stated in his letter that the cemetery had been vandalized and its entrance gate stolen.
The deputy then went to the cemetery which is located at the intersection of SC 72 and Delta Road in the Whitmire area. When he arrived, the report states the deputy observed that there was no gate at the entrance of the cemetery. He also noticed that several sections of chain link fence totaling approximately 200 feet had been taken from the poles. The deputy could not, however, determine if there had been any vandalism due to the cemetery being overgrown. He did, however, notice some recent tire marks in the grass and gravel around the cemetery.
The report states the complainant said she was not sure who was the cemetery’s caretaker and did not have a contact number for the man who’d written her. She said she would provide a copy of the letter if it was needed for the investigation.
Larceny
They were on their owner’s front porch, but that didn’t prevent a number of items with a combined value of $785 from being stolen.
The incident report states the victim said that sometime between July 9 and the afternoon of July 19, someone stole the following items from the porch of his residence at 103 Fairmont St., Union:
• A brown area rug ($25).
• Eight porcelain collectible dolls ($160).
• A brown wicker chair and coffee table with glass top ($75).
• A cherry oak coffee table ($70).
• Two new pairs of Nike Air Jordan shoes ($215).
• An antique plant stand ($20).
• A refrigerator ($100).
• A collection of baseball cards ($50).
• A battery-operated Sawz-All ($30).







