POLICE BLOTTER

Couple return to house trouble

A Mount Pleasant couple returned from a vacation Aug. 17 to find their upstairs bathroom toilet stopped up and sand all over the flooded bathroom floor. The home's power was out, too.

Pet sitters who watched the home said they noticed nothing out of the ordinary, a police report states. The owners said they've had problems with their neighbors' children over the past few years and were worried that someone might have entered their home to vandalize it. There were no charges.

Man tries to scare raccoon in tree

On Aug. 20, a resident called Mount Pleasant police saying that a neighbor was firing a pellet gun at a raccoon in a tree.

The 49-year-old man said he saw his 57-year-old neighbor fire at least three shots into the tree and then shine a flashlight on it.

Police talked to the neighbor, who admitted that he tried to scare a raccoon by shooting in its direction. He said he wanted the raccoon to stay away from his new dog. Police told the man not to shoot a pellet gun at wild animals and to call animal control if he thought an animal had rabies. Police could not find a raccoon. There were no charges.

Teen charged with drinking

On Aug. 20, a Mount Pleasant police officer found a Wando High School student who was apparently celebrating the start of a new school year with a bottle of J. Roget Champagne.

The officer checking the high school walked into a downstairs bathroom, where he found a 17-year-old male student drinking from the Champagne bottle, a report states. The teen said he found the bottle in the bathroom and decided to drink it, but that he didn't bring the bottle to school.

The teen was charged with underage possession of alcohol.

Suspicious man leaves banks

A Mount Pleasant bank teller became suspicious and contacted police after a man walked into a bank Aug. 18, looked around and walked out.

The bank teller told police that a man wearing a blue polo shirt and blue jeans walked into the bank and when she greeted him, he looked around and walked out, according to the police report. Police asked for video surveillance.

A similar call came in earlier that day about a suspicious man who walked into a bank at Wando Crossing and left after he was approached. Police checked all banks in the area and could not find the suspicious-looking man. There were no charges.

Joy rider wheels into man's fence

On Aug. 3, police were called to a home because someone drove on a man's lawn and knocked down his fence.

Mount Pleasant police saw a green fence on the ground and tire tracks in a circle in the 59-year-old man's backyard. Tracks also were seen in a dirt lot next to the home. Police found a partially smoked cigarette in the backyard and took it for processing.

Graffiti vandals hit elementary school

Mount Pleasant police were called to Whitesides Elementary School on Aug. 18 after vandals spray-painted some school buildings.

A janitor showed police 15 instances of graffiti on doors, windows and sides of trailers. Police found a silver spray-paint canister on the baseball field. A sign next to the field had been spray-painted with the words "Six Mile" with a crown in red and white spray paint. Police also found empty beer bottles in a nearby garbage can. There were no charges.

These news items were taken from Mount Pleasant Police Department incident reports.