Staff Writer

A Union man is accused of assaulting his cousin and holding him at gunpoint in their home.

Chad Allen Phillips, 17, of 127 Toney Road was charged Thursday by the Union Public Safety Department with assault of a high and aggravated nature, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, pointing and presenting a firearm, kidnapping, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to a report, Officer Eddie Williams was called to Phillips' home around 9:35 a.m.

James Clifton Phillips, 19, told officers he and Chad Phillips got into an argument. James Phillips said he stepped into the living room and Chad had a rifle pointed at him. James said he got close to the front door and Chad pointed the barrel of the gun directly at his throat. James said he attempted to grab the barrel and Chad told him if he touched it he would kill him. He said Chad began making verbal threats on his life and told James to sit on the couch at gunpoint.

Chad got a plastic trash bag and told James to put it over his head and tear a small hole in it so he could see. James said Chad then fired the gun outside toward a house across the street and then fired a round through a red Bible, one bedroom shoe underneath the Bible and into the floor.

Chad then sat down in a chair beside the door for a few minutes with the gun pointed at James, stating again he was going kill him, their grandmother, and then himself.

James said Chad got up and looked out the glass storm door. James said he got up, tackled Chad and ran out the door. He said the .22 Winchester rifle fell out of Chad's hand and onto the grass outside. James said he picked up the rifle and started running through the back yards of neighbors. He tossed the rifle into the woods behind 131 Toney Road. Wearing only his underwear, he ran to the first house he saw with a car in the yard, knocked on the door and asked the person who answered to call 911.

James told Williams where he threw the rifle and it was recovered.

Cpl. Tommy Hart and PSO Scott Hood stopped a white vehicle occupied by Chad Phillips near the residence. Chad ran around the house and got under the house. Investigator Mickey Parker went under the house and brought him out.

Investigators Charles Henderson and Brian Bailey assisted Williams in taking pictures at the house and collecting evidence.

While inside the house, Williams found what is believed to be marijuana in plain view on a table where Chad had been sitting and a green crack or marijuana pipe.

The owner of the gun had not been determined at the time of the report.

Drug charges

Joyce Gail Sinclair, 53, and Robert Marshall Mull, 47, both of 220 Eaves Road, were charged Tuesday by the Union County Sheriff's Office with purchasing a controlled substance. Mull also was charged with having an open container of alcohol.

A report said Lts. John Sherfield and David Kitchens, Sgt. Russell Vinson and Investigator Mickey Parker talked with an informant who said Mull wanted to buy Lortabs. The officers provided the informant with seven Lortabs. Mull and Ms. Sinclair came to the informant's residence and bought the pills for $21.

Officers stopped the couple's car on Highway 49. They told Kitchens they threw the pills out of the vehicle. They were placed in Vinson's patrol car. They threw the pill bottle with the Lortabs in it on the floor of the car.

Man arrested in assault

Jackie Lee Lanier, 27, of 211 North First St., Lockhart, was charged Wednesday by the sheriff's office with assault with intent to kill.

Deputies and Union County EMS were called to Lanier's residence around 10:30 a.m. They found Tommy McCollum, 52, lying on the sidewalk in front of the house bleeding severely from an open wound to the back of his head behind his left ear.

Lanier told Deputy Kevin Smith he hit McCollum with a piece of a shovel handle. He showed Smith the weapon.

Witnesses told Sgt. Jimmy Johnson the incident stemmed from an incident that occurred earlier that morning at Lockhart Town Hall.

McCollum told Johnson he went to Lanier's house to talk with Lanier's father. He said Lanier came out first and had the stick. McCollum said the next thing he remembered he was in the hospital.

The report said McCollum's injuries included bleeding and clotting on his brain. He was transported to Wallace Thomson Hospital and later transferred to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Lanier is being held in the Union County Jail on $50,000 surety bond.