Blythewood Online 691

Blog

  • Fairfield County School District Gets B on State Report

    The Fairfield County School District received some mixed results in school report cards released last week by the State Department of Education. Bolstered by three schools that earned a letter grade of A, the District received an overall rating of B under the Department’s new letter grade system.

    Kelly Miller Elementary, Fairfield Middle and the Magnet School for Math and Science all topped the District report cards with A’s. McCrorey-Liston earned a B; Geiger Elementary a C; and Fairfield Elementary a D. Fairfield Central High School, meanwhile, received a grade of F from the State.

    While Kelly Miller met its objectives in English Language Arts (ELA) and in Math, it failed to meet its objectives in Science and Social Studies. However, the State Department said, under the new grading system Science and Social Studies are weighted differently and comprise less of a school’s total points than Math and ELA. Therefore, the Department said, a school can miss objectives in Science and Social Studies and still earn an A, provided they achieve the bulk of their objectives in Math and ELA.

    Fairfield Middle School was just shy of meeting its objectives in Science, while meeting objectives in ELA, Math and Social Studies. Running the board was the Magnet School, which met objectives in all four subjects.

    McCrorey-Liston met its objectives in Math and ELA, but failed to meet objectives in Social Studies. The school showed some improvement in Science, but also failed to meet its objectives there. Geiger Elementary also showed results similar to McCrorey-Liston.

    Fairfield Elementary, while it did not meet any of its subject objectives, showed considerable improvement in Science and minor improvement in Math and ELA.

    Fairfield Central met only a single objective: ELA. The high school missed its Math objective entirely and showed only marginal improvement in Science and Social Studies. The school’s graduation rate, on the other hand, showed considerable improvement; although that, too, was short of its objective.

    J.R. Green, Superintendent of Fairfield County Schools, said that while he felt the old system of evaluating schools and school districts was flawed, he also has concerns with the new system.

    “Some of the high school’s evaluation was based on last year’s test scores, and some on previous years’ scores,” Green said, “while the graduation rate for last year has not yet been calculated. It is a hodgepodge of data that presents an unclear picture.

    “We are pleased with the B rating the District received, and especially with the A’s some of our schools received,” Green said. “I agree there are some things we need to work on at the high school, but there are some inconsistencies with how it was evaluated.”

    This is the first time S.C. schools and school districts received letter grades based upon student achievement. The letter grades were a key component of the State’s flexibility request from certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais submitted the flexibility request to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) in February and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan approved the request in July.

    Zais said letter grades provide the public a transparent and accurate reflection of current levels of student achievement and improvement. Under this new system, schools will have more data than ever before on student performance, including areas of strength and areas needing improvement.

    “The new federal report card tells students, parents, schools, and the public how schools are performing in a clear and easily understood system of letter grades,” Zais said. “Students have received letter grades on their report cards for decades; schools and school districts should be held to the same level of accountability and transparency.”

  • Copper Bandits Target Churches

    It may not be enough to categorize it as an epidemic just yet, but investigators with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office have been kept busy over the last week by a string of copper thieves targeting local churches.

    “Over the last week, we’ve had three churches hit, all off Highway 321,” Capt. Brad Douglas said. “Churches are, unfortunately, an easy target. They’re unoccupied most of the time.”

    Between July 26 and Aug. 1, copper thieves dismantled air conditioning units outside churches between White Oak and just south of the airport, making off with an estimated $17,000 in copper tubing. Their first target: St. John AME at 4774 Highway 321 N. Deputies were called to the church July 26 where a member there had found the air conditioning unit taken apart and copper worth approximately $9,000 taken. The church had been idle since the previous Sunday, July 22, according to the incident report.

    Copper bandits had a narrow window of opportunity during their next strike, at Weeping Mary Church at 7109 Highway 321 N. A security check at 11 p.m. July 30 by a deputy on patrol in the area found the church to be locked down tight and the property unmolested. The following day, however, just after 4 p.m., deputies were called to the church after three of the air conditioning units outside the building had been stripped of $6,000 in copper parts.

    St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, at Highway 321 Bypass N., was the most recent victim in this rash of thefts. Investigators called to the scene there found that between 7 p.m. July 28 and 1:35 p.m. Aug. 1, thieves had ripped the top off an air conditioning unit and had stolen copper elements worth $2,000.

    Although tire tracks were found at one of the crime scenes, forensic evidence is often difficult to come by in cases of copper theft, the Sheriff’s Office said. The very nature of the crime requires the thieves to wear gloves, and fingerprints are rarely left behind. Tracing stolen parts is also next to impossible. Copper tubes and coils, essentially, all look the same and bear no identifying marks or numbers. With no hard evidence, the crimes have not been positively connected; but given the proximity of the thefts, the Sheriff’s Office said they suspect a link.

    “Copper thefts are high everywhere,” Douglas said. “But, given the time frame and the targets and the area, we’re probably looking at the same person or group of people.”

    A new state law passed this year was designed to make the selling of stolen scrap metals more difficult, but the Sheriff’s Office said they have not seen a real decline in cases like these. The law has, however, helped law enforcement identify people selling scrap metals to recycling centers.

    Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office is asking the community to be on alert for suspicious activity near susceptible target areas, such as churches.

  • Incident Reports

    FCSO

    29014

    Chance Lane, 100 block, between 9:24 and 9:29 a.m. July 27. Someone used a stolen ATM card to withdraw $500 from a bank account.

    Highway 321 N., 12800 block, at 3:52 p.m. July 29. Someone broke into a night club and stole electronics and other items worth $5,353.

    29015

    Strother Road, 2500 block, between 8:10 and 8:20 p.m. July 31. Someone stole two puppies worth $400 from the yard of a home.

    29065

    Highway 215 S., 11000 block, between 3:25 and 3:45 p.m. July 27. Someone stole fuel worth $100 from the gas tank of a truck parked outside a business.

    29180

    Highway 321 N., 4700 block, between 1:54 and 2:06 p.m. July 26. Someone vandalized an air conditioning unit outside a church causing $9,000 in damage.

    Highway 321 Bypass N., 300 block, between 6:47 and 7 p.m. July 26. Someone vandalized the front door of a home causing $200 in damage.

    Forest Hills Drive, 500 block, between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m. July 28. Someone vandalized the front door of a home causing $500 in damage.

    Highway 321 Bypass N., 100 block, between 7 p.m. July 28 and 1:35 p.m. Aug. 1. Someone stole copper worth $2,000 from an air conditioning unit outside a church.

    Sixth Street, 100 block, between 10 p.m. July 28 and 3:50 p.m. July 29. Someone punctured the tires on a car parked outside a home causing $1,000 in damage.

    Tidewater Drive, 100 block, between 11:14 and 11:15 a.m. July 30. Someone broke into a storage trailer outside a home and stole tools worth $906.

    Highway 321 N., 7100 block, between 4:15 and 4:29 p.m. July 31. Someone stole copper worth $6,000 from three air conditioning units outside a church.

    Old Reservoir Road, 300 block, between 7:56 and 8:30 p.m. July 31. Someone stole firearms worth $900 from a home.

    WDPS

    29180

    S. Congress Street, 600 block, between 6 a.m. July 16 and 6 a.m. July 20. Someone vandalized a tractor parked outside a country club causing $15,000 in damage.

    Spring Street, 500 block, between 6:45 and 7:15 p.m. July 25. Someone stole a purse worth $10 and containing $100 in cash from a car parked outside a home.

    Palmer Street, 400 block, between 11 a.m. July 26 and 7:30 a.m. July 27. Someone vandalized a car parked outside a home causing $7,000 in damage.

    N. Congress Street, 400 block, between 7:30 a.m. July 27 and 4:40 p.m. July 28. Someone broke into a home and stole a television and other items of undetermined value.

  • Fairfield County School Board to Appeal Mitford Ruling

    The Fairfield County School Board voted 5-2 Tuesday night to pursue an appeal of a Circuit Court decision in the legal battle between the Chester County School District and Fairfield County Schools.

    Judge J. Ernest Kinard ruled July 16 that Fairfield must pay Chester approximately $3,452 in local funds for each student living in the Mitford area of Fairfield County and attending Chester County schools. It is estimated that between 100 and 200 students would have been affected by the ruling.

    “We send three buses to the Mitford area every day, during school,” Board member Henry Miller said prior to the vote. “The children in the Blair community, some of them come 28 miles from their residences to the high school. The claim is that they’re (Mitford students) traveling so far. The children in the Blair area are traveling further. Also, we don’t know, maybe later, our legislators may come and say ‘we’re going to let the children in the Ridgeway area go to schools in Richland County.’ I think it’s dangerous and it’s something this board needs to fight.”

    Miller voted for the appeal, as did Andrea Harrison, Marchella Pauling, Danielle Miller and Annie McDaniel, who joined the meeting by phone.

    Board members Bobby Cunningham and Beth Reid voted against the appeal.

    “We’ve already spent, I would estimate, over $300,000 on this thing,” Cunningham said. “We cannot make those children come to Fairfield County schools.”

    And the federal money and the state money, Cunningham noted, follows the students.

    “This was a sleeping dog that should have been left alone,” Cunningham said.

    Kinard’s ruling stated that, based on Fairfield County’s local per student funding level of $8,875 versus Chester County’s local per student funding level of $3,452, Chester County Schools are “not unduly profiting” from the arrangement and Fairfield County Schools are not being “unreasonably burdened.”

    “(The Fairfield County School District) is actually spending over $5,000 less per student than its per student revenue,” the ruling states.

    The lawsuit was brought by the Fairfield County School District in June of 2010 following an act of local legislation providing for the continued funding of the approximately 200 Mitford area students who attend Chester County Schools. The District’s lawsuit claimed the legislation, introduced and passed by Sen. Creighton Coleman and Rep. Boyd Brown in the spring of 2010, was unconstitutional in that it conflicted with general law as set forth by Article III, Section 34 of the S.C. State Constitution.

    In his ruling Judge Kinard noted that Article III “generally prohibits special legislation where a general law can be made to apply,” but also said that “the prohibition of special legislation is not absolute, and special legislation is not unconstitutional where the General Assembly has a logical basis and sound reason for resorting to special legislation.”

    Armand Derfner, the Charleston attorney handling the case for the Fairfield County School District, said that is, essentially, what the whole case boils down to – special law versus general law.

    “What it comes down to is can a general law be made or is this situation so unique that it requires a special law,” Derfner said. “Fairfield says a general law is in place. Chester says no, that this situation requires a special law.”

    Kinard’s ruling stated that the Fairfield County School District “presented no evidence” that the General Assembly had abused its discretion in enacting this special legislation. The ruling also stated that the General Assembly did, in fact, have “a logical basis and sound reason” for enacting this special law.

  • Lake Wateree Presbyterian Church welcomes new Pastor

    Pastor Gary Bainton has found a new home at LWPC.

    While attending an event at the Lake Wateree Veterans of Foreign Wars post #8346, I was introduced to the new pastor of the Longtown Presbyterian Church on Longtown Road in Ridgeway. As a way of welcoming him to the area and at the same time introducing him to those who do not know him, I have chosen him as my person-of-interest for this month.

    His full name is Gary Arthur Bainton. Pastor Bainton was born in Milford, in the Southern part of Connecticut, to parents Warren and Audrey Bainton. The elder Baintons currently live at Lake Carolina and will celebrate their 66th anniversary this year. Pastor Gary’s father was in the military when he met his mother, who was a USO hostess. Although attending another church in their own area, they often worship at Bainton’s Longtown church. He has a sister, Stacy, who is married to Charlie and living in Augusta, Ga. Together the couple have a blended family of nine children, so Pastor Gary has many nieces and nephews to keep him busy. His own family consists of two grown children, a daughter Noelle who is married to Keith and living in Atlanta, and a son Matt who is married to Erin and living in Greenville. Each of them have baby boys under the age of 13 months. Bainton’s grandsons’ names are Levi and Truett.

    He attended Marist Catholic boys Military School, a private school started in 1901 and located in Atlanta. After graduation he furthered his education with two years at William & Mary and Augusta College, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in history.

    Entering the seminary at Erskine Seminary in the town of Due West in South Carolina, near Abbeville, it was there that he got his Masters of Divinity degree. After graduation he fulfilled a one-year internship. He then went to the Greater Augusta Presbyterian Ministries where he worked with inner city families and became an ordained deacon and ruling elder. He became an ordained pastor on July 31 of 1994 to a small country church in Columbia called Rose Hill Presbyterian where he stayed for the next 11 years.

    Due to a personal family situation in 2005, Bainton took a break from the ministry, working at Staples and the University of South Carolina doing administrative work. He was called back to do God’s work in 2011 and ministered at several churches before his move to the Lake Wateree church at the beginning of this year. Bainton has been well received and immediately became a part of the Longtown church family.

    His hobbies and interests include history, especially American history, vexillology and heraldry. In the past he has enjoyed woodworking. Since he has a degree in history and is interested in all pertaining to it, flags from the Revolutionary War are seen flying in the front of his home. One in honor of the Fourth of July, the Betsy Ross flag (or Great Circle), the Gadsden flag (lately identified with the Tea Party but is flown for its historical connection to South Carolina) the Fort Moultrie flag (an important American victory in Charleston) and the Naval Jack, which until 9/11 flew on the oldest ship in active duty. After 9/11 all American war ships fly this flag.

    “I enjoy reading, teaching, preaching the Bible and helping people apply these great truths in their lives,” Bainton said.

    He has said that he loves it here at the lake and while sitting on the porch of the church’s manse, he was reminded of the verse from the 23rd Psalm that says, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,” and that is what he sees as he looks around at the peace and the quiet of the area.

    The Longtown Church is small in number but big in heart. They have a prayer service each Tuesday night in addition to their Sunday morning service and a brunch that is held one Sunday each month. His hopes for the future of the church are to increase membership and to revive the hearts of the congregation through prayer. He is a charming gentleman and a real asset to the church. We had a good visit and a prayer session during our visit.

    Welcome Pastor Gary Bainton to the Lake Wateree area.

  • Adoption Center Sponsors Homecoming, Adoption Day

    Katherine Thomas and her grandmother’s adopted dog, Copper, show off hats they wore in the hat contest.

    Many people and their pets attended Fairfield County Animal Adoption Center’s pet homecoming and adoption day Saturday. As adopted pets enjoyed coming back to the Center for a visit, other pets were being adopted. Adding to the festivities were a hat-judging contest, door prizes, a yard sale, mobile grooming unit on site, free pet food and treats and grilled hot dogs, popcorn, snow cones and baked goods. And Tina Johnson of Over the Top hat boutique judged a hat contest.

    The Fairfield County Animal Adoption Center is located at 1678 Hwy 321 Bus. N. in Winnsboro. For information about adoption, call 803-447-3602 or 718-3434.

  • Fairfield County Incident Reports

    FCSO

    29014

    Heritage Road, 6300 block, between 9:42 and 10:50 p.m. July 20. Two men forced their way into a home, held the residents at gunpoint and stole cash and other items worth $54.

    29065

    Little River Church Road, 100 block, between 8:37 and 8:41 p.m. July 20. Someone stole a cell phone worth $60 from a package delivered outside a home.

    Bradham Blvd., 1600 block, between 2:44 and 2:55 a.m. July 21. Someone vandalized a car parked outside a nightclub causing $500 in damage.

    Highway 213, 12800 block, between 4:43 and 5:45 a.m. July 22. A woman was arrested after someone vandalized a home causing $425 in damage.

    29180

    Pine Street, 500 block, between 9:17 and 10 a.m. July 19. Someone stole tools and other items worth $1,175 from a home.

    River Road, 4500 block, between 6 p.m. July 20 and 2:17 p.m. July 22. Someone broke into a truck parked at a boat landing and stole tools worth $900.

    WDPS

    29180

    Alexander Circle, 400 block, between 9:30 and 10 p.m. July 4. Someone stole video game equipment worth $300 from a home.

    N. Garden Street, 200 block, between noon and 12:15 p.m. July 14. Someone stole $111 in cash from a purse inside a home.

    Oak Street, 400 block, between 8 p.m. July 13 and 8:23 a.m. July 14. Someone vandalized a home and a car parked outside the home causing $300 in damage.

    Laurelwood Court, 100 block, between 2:12 and 2:58 p.m. July 16. Someone vandalized the front door of a home causing $700 in damage.

    S. Zion Street, 200 block, between 7 a.m. and noon July 18. Someone stole jewelry worth $300 from a home.

    Calhoun Street, 100 block, between noon and 2 p.m. July 21. Someone stole a cell phone worth $200 from a home.

    Drayton Street, 500 block, between 11:25 and 11:50 p.m. July 21. Someone attempted to break into a home causing $200 in damage.

  • Will Community Answer Ministry’s Call to Action?

    The future of the Country Club – and the shape of downtown Winnsboro – is now in the hands of the people of Fairfield County.

    When the Fairfield County Club was on the block, Christ Central Ministries answered the call. When the ink had fully dried on the $150,000 deal that transferred ownership of the Country Club from the Mt. Zion Society to the outreach ministry, Christ Central then put the call out to the community – Come to the table and let’s get to work.

    Last week, more than 100 people from every corner of the county jammed the Christ Central Community Center on N. Congress Street in downtown Winnsboro to answer that call and help guide the direction of the future of the Country Club and downtown.

    “Tonight is about forming the transition teams,” Pastor Jimmy Jones, head of Christ Central Ministries, told the audience. “What would it look like if you were the artist? What would it look like if you were the architect? Let yourself dream for a little bit.”

    Indeed, a transformative project along the lines of revitalizing an entire town is quite a dream in itself, but Jones’ ministry has gone a long way toward doing exactly that in communities like Wagener and Allendale, restoring crumbling buildings and injecting life into local economies with the ministry’s college and Mission Stations. Now, the ministry is looking to bring that spirit of recovery to Winnsboro; but what that will ultimately look like will not be up to Christ Central, but to the people of Fairfield County. And while local artist Dru Blair has made it clear that he would like to bring his art school, now located in Blair, downtown – beginning with the Country Club and eventually growing into the old Mt. Zion Institute – if and how that will take shape will be up to the transition teams.

    “What does it take to bring people downtown?” Jones asked. “The whole idea is to make the town a better place and a prettier place while preserving its history and heritage. The Dru Blair School of Art has potential to bring new life to downtown, but it requires neighbors helping neighbors.”

    Elfi Hacker, owner of the 145 Club on Congress Street, asked Jones if anything was in place to ensure this project moves forward. Jones said that would be up to the community, and noted there were obstacles that had to be overcome.

    Referring to his ministry’s attempts two years ago to bring development to Western Fairfield County, Jones said certain less-savory spirits of the past have to be exorcized.

    “There’s a prejudice here that has to be lost,” Jones said. “It’s not black. It’s not white. It’s both. We were told we didn’t want anything in this community, that we didn’t want any whites moving in here because it would change our vote.

    “It doesn’t matter if you were a black slave in the cotton fields or a white slave in the cotton mills,” Jones said, “the poverty is the same. This won’t happen until the people on this end of town are as valuable as the people on the other end of town.”

    Tim Wilkes, a former member of the State Legislature and a local businessman, said the community had reached a tipping point, and which way it would fall rested on everyone’s shoulders.

    “This is about as bad as I’ve ever seen it here,” Wilkes said. “We’re on the verge of some very great things coming to keep us from disaster. I could have left Winnsboro years ago, but I stayed. And I’ve invested a lot of money and a considerable amount of time into downtown Winnsboro, and at my age that’s quite a big risk. Don’t give up hope. Be more hopeful than you’ve ever been.”

    But there’s hope, and then there’s action, and as the meeting drew to a close, Jones asked for volunteers to sign up for the various advisory teams. Of the more than 100 people who turned out for the orientation, 85 put their names on one line or another.

    Jones said those teams will be compiled and contacted in a matter of days, and then the real work will begin. As for the golf course, it is open and ready for business. On Thursdays, they are offering 18 holes for two people for $25, which includes cart rental.

  • Fairfield County Council Debates Tax Break

    To tax or not to tax? That is the question currently being kicked around by Fairfield County Council in regards to The Shaw Group, Inc., the major contractor working in Jenkinsville to construct two new reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.

    During their July 23 meeting, Council passed their second reading of an ordinance for a “fee-in-lieu of tax” agreement between the County and Shaw, which would essentially freeze the company’s taxes to the County at 6 percent for the next five years. Without the agreement, Shaw’s contribution to County coffers would remain at the standard 10 percent.

    Although he voted in favor of the second reading, Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) made it clear that he was beginning to have doubts about what such agreements have actually done for employment in Fairfield County.

    “My concern is that we have this $10 billion industry out there and so many people in Fairfield County can’t get jobs,” Marcharia, whose district is home to the nuclear plant, said. “This group (Shaw) is working over there and calling it ‘economic development,’ but I don’t see a whole lot of that. I don’t know what the actual benefit of this is, and I don’t know if I can continue to support it.”

    Phil Hinely, the County Administrator, said the agreement between Shaw and the County was actually part of early discussions when construction of the reactors was in its planning stages and that such agreements have, over the last several decades, become commonplace among counties trying to lure economic investment.

    “We’ve kind of given them our word that at some point the County would do this, early on,” Hinely said, but added that the County had “sent a strong message to them to be a little more sensitive to the community.”

    Council Chairman David Ferguson (District 5) said he felt that Shaw may not be holding up its end of what those early talks were all about.

    “I know for a fact they’re not doing all they could do,” Ferguson said. “I know what promises were made to start with. I’m not sure they’re doing everything they can to hire folks they can, and that’s what concerns me.”

    Ferguson said a public meeting between the County and Shaw, as well as SCANA (operators of the nuclear plant), might be necessary in order to refresh their collective memories. But, he said, the County couldn’t mandate that Shaw hire local people.

    “It’s against the law,” Ferguson said.

    Councilman David Brown (District 7) said Council should have some actual numbers to review before a final decision is made on the ordinance.

    “I know people who are working out there and a great many of them are from Fairfield County,” Brown said. “Maybe it has made an impact on Fairfield County already. I would like to have a body count.”

    Ferguson said one major obstacle prospective employees face is their ability to pass a criminal background check. The County has, he said, been pursuing avenues to help non-violent offenders get their records expunged, but with limited success.

    “If you’ve got one blemish on your record, your application goes into File 13 pretty quick,” Ferguson said. “They set their standards pretty high.”

    But expunction, Marcharia said, has turned into a cottage industry; and with a price tag of $1,000 to $1,500, it is a luxury that many cannot afford.

    “I’ve looked at this (expunction) thing for many people in my district who have come to me and asked for help,” Marcharia said. “A lot of these folks have served their time, followed the law, been paroled by a judicious group of people and they’re back out. They want their record expunged. These are poor working people. These are not rich middle-class people, for the most part. Now you’ve created a whole new industry, in my opinion, to victimize people who don’t have jobs and can’t find a job because they have a record.

    “They’ve already paid their debt,” Marcharia continued. “We continue with this type of thing – you won’t allow them to survive and support their family and be responsible and change their character and be responsible human beings – you’d be crazy not to join a gang. A lot of people can’t pay these $1,000-$1,500 (expunction fees) when they’re already poor.”

    Another hurdle facing prospective employees is training, and Marcharia said the County is not doing enough to educate and train their citizens. Vice Chairman Dwayne Perry (District 1) said the County had invested in the Midlands Tech QuickJobs Center, but it couldn’t force people to take advantage of it.

    “When we built the QuickJobs center it was also a challenge to get people to come out and take those classes to qualify for jobs at Shaw,” Perry said. “I think we knew going in that we could control the controllables, which is to make sure we have a facility where we can train or help train individuals to have an opportunity to work out there. We also knew going in the challenges of being able to be employed at a nuclear site. I think there’s still some time to have those records expunged. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have individuals applying for those jobs who can pass the background (check).”

    “Why can’t we get our agencies to get our people to the training center?” Marcharia asked. “They drop out way before they even get there. Why is that? They don’t have a mechanism to follow up.”

    Marcharia said last week that, unless the numbers of local hires requested by Brown convince him otherwise, he was not likely to support the ordinance on its final reading, which will be taken up by Council at their next meeting Aug. 27.

  • Armed Intruders Hold Family at Gunpoint

    The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a July 20 home invasion in Blackstock where suspects burst into a home seeking money and drugs but left with only a cell phone and a handful of $1 bills.

    According to the incident report, someone knocked on the front door of a home on Heritage Road at 9:42 p.m. July 20. When a juvenile inside the home answered the door, two men rushed into the home waving guns. They ordered the juvenile, his mother and a 62-year-old man onto the floor and told them they were going to kill them all if the juvenile’s father didn’t come out of the bedroom.

    When the father of the juvenile victim emerged from the bedroom, the suspects ordered him onto the floor also and told him to hand over “all of his money and his drugs,” the report states.

    The victim produced $4 from his pocket and handed it to the gunmen. The suspects took the money, as well as a cell phone worth $50, and fled in an SUV, described as either a Tahoe or an Expedition.

    Early the next morning, the suspects reportedly returned to Heritage Road and attempted to gain entry into the home. After banging on the door and the sides of the house for approximately 10 minutes, the suspects drove off, this time in a car, at about 4:19 a.m.

    The Sheriff’s Office said they are currently cross-referencing several leads in the case with neighboring counties where, they said, similar incidents have occurred in recent weeks.