A burglar cut a hole in the rear of the building at Whitmire’s Dollar General store, broke open the safe and took cash and checks.

Deputy Scott Coffer with the Union County Sheriff’s Office was called to the store on 6514 Whitmire Highway Monday morning after an employee arriving for work discovered the break-in. She said she came inside, went to cut off the alarm and realized there was no power. The safe had been broken into.

A hole was cut in the rear of the building, the alarm was cut off and wires to a security camera had been pulled from the ceiling.

A surveillance video viewed by deputies showed the suspect — a white man wearing all black — using a drill to open the safe. Around $1,936 in cash and checks was stolen.

Lynching

A Gaffney man is accused of being in a group that assaulted a Union man.

Jeremiah Antoine Sims, 21, of 117 Riverbranch Drive was charged Monday by the Union Public Safety Department with lynching.

An arrest warrant signed by Investigator Brian Bailey said Sims and two other men attacked a 47-year-old man on Spring Street on June 29, pointed what appeared to be a gun at the man and threatened to shoot him.

The victim told Cpl. Dell Mitchell he was walking on Spring Street around 4 a.m. when three men jumped on him and one struck him in the back with his fist.

The victim said one of the men was wearing glasses and had a white scarf on his head. Another had bushy hair and was not wearing a shirt. The third had no shirt and had something shiny on his teeth.

Teen arrested

A 16-year-old Union boy is accused of breaking into a car and taking items.

The name of the boy was not released by the Union Public Safety Department because of his age. He is charged with car breaking and petit larceny.

On June 24, the victim on 117 Scenic Drive told Officer Mark Gregory that she came out and found someone had rambled through the glove box of her vehicle. Her mother’s debit card and a Panasonic portable DVD player with two screens were stolen.

Debit card theft

Jefferson Richard Owens, 26, of 203 Partridge Road was charged Monday by the public safety department with two counts of financial transaction card fraud. According to warrants signed by Investigator Robbie McGee, Owens took a debit card from a relative and used the card to withdraw around $3,220 from a bank account.

Gun stolen

On 513 Lovers Lane Road, a victim told Deputy Tim Gaston Monday that someone took his Hi-Point .380 ACP semi-automatic pistol from his 2002 GMC Yukon. The pistol was kept between the driver’s and passenger’s seat in a black plastic case. The case also held four antique silver dollars.

The victim later found the empty case at the home of a relative. An investigation is continuing.