HANAHAN — During a late-night crime spree, police reported a local man broke in to a Charleston Water System facility and stole a vehicle, which he crashed moments later less than a mile away.
Officers with the Hanahan Police Department responded to a Charleston Water Systems facility off of Railroad Avenue a little before midnight March 25. They’d been notified that there was a trespasser on site, Chief Rick Gebhardt told The Post and Courier.
A tow truck and Hanahan police cruiser work to secure the scene after a man allegedly stole a Charleston Water System vehicle and crashed it on Highland Park Road on March 25.
The trespasser stolen a CWS-licensed SUV and drove it from the scene, Gebhardt said. But less than half a mile down the roadway the man flipped and rolled the vehicle onto its roof.
Hanahan officers arrested Keith Lee Christopher of North Charleston in the early-morning hours of March 26. He is charged with two counts of grand larceny, one count of malicious injury to property greater than $10,000 and reckless driving.
Both grand larceny and malicious injury to property charges are classified as felonies in South Carolina and are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
It was unclear if the suspect had been under the influence of alcohol or drugs while allegedly committing the crimes, Gebhardt said.
He said Christopher received minor injuries as a result of the crash but was cleared from an area hospital before being booked and held at the Hill Finklea Detention Center.
“We’re thrilled that no employees were injured and the water treatment process was not impacted,” CWS spokesperson Mike Saia said. Around 64 million gallons of water flow through the Hanahan water facility daily, he said.
Two perimeter fences were damaged after the stolen vehicle was driven through them, Saia said. The repairs were expected to be completed by the evening of March 26.
A number of other CWS vehicles on site appeared to have been rummaged through and administrators are still working to survey what items may have been pilfered.
In regards to future security threats to the site, Saia said he wasn’t worried. While this incident “exposed some minor weaknesses” in security, “it would be difficult, if not impossible, for someone to impact the water treatment process,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
