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A local funeral director was arrested last week and charged with allegedly forging a death certificate.

Richard Scott Lewis, 42, 3945 Buffalo-West Springs Highway, Union, is charged by the Union County Sheriff’s Office with forgery.

In a statement released earlier this week, Sheriff David Taylor said the arrest grew out of a request by the Union Public Safety Department that his office investigate an alleged act of forgery against the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office. Taylor said that as a result of the investigation, a warrant for Lewis’ arrest was signed. He said the warrant states that Lewis forged the name of a Medical Examiner on a death certificate and presented it to the DHEC office in Spartanburg.

The booking report filed in the case states that Lewis was released from jail on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

Crack Cocaine Arrest

A Carlisle man ended up in jail after allegedly being found with crack cocaine in his pocket during a traffic stop this past weekend.

Kayson David Jeter, 36, 115 Brooklyn Avenue, Carlisle, is charged by the Union County Sheriff’s Office with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

The incident report states a deputy was traveling toward the Monarch area along the Neal Shoals Road Saturday evening when a white jeep occupied by two black males drove up close to the rear of his patrol vehicle. The deputy observed the driver of the vehicle take a drink of beer. The deputy then turned left onto Monarch Highway followed by the jeep. After a short distance he pulled over and allowed the jeep to pass him. He then pulled in behind the vehicle and made a traffic stop.

The deputy then called for assistance and two more deputies arrived on the scene. When the first deputy approached the jeep, the report states he noticed the driver, later identified as Jeter, was sweating and appeared to be very nervous. The report describes Jeter as refusing to cooperate, forcing the deputy to reach into the vehicle and handcuff Jeter before taking him out of the jeep.

After he was removed from his vehicle, the report states Jeter turned his left side away from the deputy and pressed it up against the jeep in an attempt to prevent the deputy from searching his left pants pocket. He did not succeed in the effort as the deputy was eventually able to gain access to Jeter’s pocket and found a clear plastic bag containing a white rock-like substance believed to be crack cocaine and a green blistex tube also believed to contain crack cocaine. The deputy also found $344.25 in cash in Jeter’s right front pocket.

In addition, the report states two open containers of beer were found in the jeep.

Jeter was then transported to jail where a warrant for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine was signed and served on him.

Methamphetamine Arrest

A Sharon man ended up in jail a little more than a month after he allegedly sold methamphetamine to confidential informant working with the sheriff’s office.

Chad Elliot Allen, 33, 8101 Lockhart Highway, Sharon, is charged by the sheriff’s office with distribution of methamphetamine.

The incident report states that on May 3, a deputy met with and searched a confidential informant who he then wired with a camera and issued an amount of record currency. The informant then went to Old Union Road where the report states he met with Allen who, in exchange for the recorded currency, sold him an amount of a white crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine.

After making the buy, the informant again met with the deputy and turned the methamphetamine and camera over to him. The deputy again searched the informant. The methamphetamine was then placed in a SLED Best Kit to be sent to the agency for testing. A warrant for Allen’s arrest for distribution of methamphetamine was then signed.

It was until Sunday night, however, that Allen was placed under arrest and transported to jail.

Allen was taken into custody at a residence in Lockhart that night after deputies received a tip through Crimestoppers that he was there. Two deputies were dispatched to the scene and when they arrived one went to the front door and the other to the back door. The deputy who went to the front door located Allen in the front bedroom of the house. When the deputy found Allen, the report states Allen was attempting to take what he claimed was his medication. The deputy stopped Allen from doing so and moved him into the living room.

It was at that point the deputy noticed Allen was clenching a pill bottle in his left hand. As the deputy attempted to take it away from him, the report states Allen dumped the contents of the bottle onto the floor under the chair he was sitting in. The deputy who’d went to the back door then came in to assist the other deputy and help take Allen into custody and then gather the contents of the bottle Allen had spilled on the floor.

The report states contents of the bottle included 19 orange, oblong-shaped pills with Watson 3203 on them and two blue oblong-shaped pills with Watson 450 on them. The orange pills are described as Hydrocodone 7.5 mg and the blue pills as Hydrocodone 10 mg, both Schedule 3 narcotics.

Also among the contents were two white round pills with Mylan A4 on them. The report describes the white pills as Alprazalom 2 mg, a Schedule 4 narcotic.

Both the pills and the bottle, the label of which the report states had been removed, were collected as evidence. The pills were sealed in a SLED Best Kit to be sent to the agency for analysis.

The report states Allen was then arrested on the outstanding warrants and also charged with two counts of possession of a Schedule 3 narcotic and one count of possession of a Schedule 4 narcotic.

Arrests

The following persons were arrested by the sheriff’s office.

Vickie Lynn Boulware, 42, 193 Carem Road, Room 23, Union, charged Saturday with breach of peace.

Tera Lashun Briggs, 32, 310 Lawson Avenue, Union, charged Sunday with shoplifting.

Antonio Rocell Smith, 29, 1217 West Springs Highway, Lot 17, Jonesville, charged Sunday with shoplifting.