Staff Writer

Deputies are looking for the people who broke into a local church and took the sound system.

The break-in at Crestview Baptist Church on 1100 Furman Fendley Highway was discovered around 9 a.m. Tuesday by a woman coming to the church to clean. She told Deputy Ashley Jackson that she came in and found the safe from the office had been moved into a hallway and was broken open. She then left the church and called 911.

The church's sound system, worth around $13,400, was stolen from the balcony.

Deputies found pry marks on all three doors on the backside of the church and one door was pried open.

Sheriff Howard Wells asked that anyone with information on the burglary call his office or Union County Crime Stoppers at 427-0800. He said other churches in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties have reported similar thefts.

“Sound systems are the target of thieves for basement bands and because of the ease with which they can be sold at pawn shops,” he said. “It's an aggravating offense and we appeal to anyone with information to give the information to us or Crime Stoppers.”

Deputies check churches while they are on patrol, Wells said.

“They can go in a dozen times and the lot is clear and then it only takes one time for this to happen,” he said.

Drug charge

A Pacolet man is accused of selling $400 worth of marijuana to informants with the sheriff's office.

John Clyde Lundeen, 32, of 1210 Cleveland St., was charged Monday with distribution of marijuana.

A report said Lt. David Kitchens, Lt. John Sherfield, Sgt. Jimmy Johnson and Deputy Wendy Childers met with two informants and gave them $400. Contact was made with Lundeen and he agreed to meet the informants at the intersection of Means Road and Jerusalem Road.

With Deputy Roxie Belue in the vehicle with them, the informants drove to the meeting spot. Lundeen sold the informants around 150 grams of marijuana. Lundeen left and his vehicle later was stopped by Sherfield and Kitchens. The $400 was in his front pocket.

Man arrested after chase

A Lockhart man is accused of leading deputies on a short vehicle chase Monday night.

Amille LeSean Pilgrim, 32, of 342 Askew Circle, Lockhart, was charged Monday night by the Union County Sheriff's Office with failure to stop for a blue light, having no driver's license, having an open container of alcohol and simple possession of marijuana.

A report said Sgt. Jimmy Johnson and Deputy Wendy Childers were on patrol on the Neal Shoals Road around 11:30 p.m. when they saw a brown 1975 Oldsmobile stopped at the intersection of Landfill Road. The driver's door was open and a man, later identified as Pilgrim, was standing next to it. The deputies pulled up next to the vehicle and turned on the blue lights on their patrol vehicle with intentions of checking to see if the car had broken down.

Pilgrim jumped into the driver's seat and drove off. A short chase ensued and Pilgrim crossed the center line and came to a stop on the left shoulder near the intersection of Happy Valley Road.

Pilgrim was taken into custody.

A check showed Pilgrim had no license. He told officers he had a beer in the car. Johnson found an opened and half full Corona beer on the ground next to the driver's opened door. Part of the beer was in the floorboard. A small brown roach-sized cigar believed to contain marijuana was found in an ash tray in the back seat.

Pilgrim at first said the vehicle belonged to his aunt but a check revealed it was registered to Michael Thompson, 31, of 203 Scott St., Union, a passenger in the car. Thompson was given a ticket for allowing an unauthorized person to drive.

A third man in the car was not arrested.

Fraudulent check arrest

A Cowpens man is accused of writing a fraudulent check for $4,920.

Dewey Scott Williams, 34, of 184 Wallace Road was taken into custody Monday by Deputy Russell Roark.

A report said the sheriff's office had a warrant for Williams for the bad check, which was written to Thomas and Howell Company. A tip was received that Williams was at a trailer park on Linersville Road. Roark went there and took Williams into custody.

Theft

Also on Monday, a victim on 106 Teal Road told Sgt. Kevin Powers with the Union Public Safety Department that someone went into his garage and stole his Craftsman band saw and his stand up drill press. These are worth around $300.