From WSPA:

The City of Greenville reports the theft of storm grates and manhole covers continues on streets and sidewalks. Most have been stolen from the area off East North Street.

Each manhole cover or storm gate can cost between $150 and $200 to replace.

Greenville Police ask you to call if you see any suspicious activity around those areas. The city says any legitimate work on the covers and gates are done by City or County workers in clearly marked vehicles.

You can report any suspicious activity by calling (864) 271-5333. To report a missing storm grate or manhole cover, residents are asked to call Greenville Cares, the City’s customer service call center, at 232-CARE (2273).

There’s video at the link.

From WSPA:

These two handsome fellows are Michael Brent Haynes and Paul Henry Paprycki. They are common thieves who steal air conditioners, I assume to sell the valuable components inside. What makes them special? Well, it’s who they steal from.

From WSPA:

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office charged Michael Brent Haynes and Paul Henry Paprycki, Jr. with 14 counts each of grand larceny and 14 counts of malicious damage to real property.

Sheriff’s investigators say Haynes and Paprycki stole air conditioning units from businesses at the Augusta Place shopping Center in Moonville, Community Food Bank of the Upstate, South Ridge Industrial Park on West Bulter Road and a business on Grey Lewis Court.

That’s right, they stole air conditioners from a food bank. In the summer. During a recession.

What happened boys you couldn’t get over to the children’s hospital?

Just a rumor, but Melinda Sue Cuddy is something of a known small timer. There’s a comment on WYFF’s report by someone who claims to know the woman:

I have known Melinda since she was a little kid. She was hateful, mean-spirited brat. As an adult, she has constantly been busted for a variety of crimes, given a slap on the wrist, then released right back out on society to wreak more havoc on her friends, family, and neighbors. Her crimes have slowly escalated over the past 10 years…..wonder when something will ever finally be done about her? ~smh & sighs~

Jun. 9, 2010 7:27am EDT | from KimberlyAnn

A couple of years ago a Melinda Sue Cuddy of Easley, who I assume is this same woman, was arrested for drug charges and 48 counts of  financial identity theft:

An Easley woman has been arrested on drug charges and 48 counts of financial identity fraud.

Melinda Sue Cuddy, 32, of 107 Lockwood Ave. was arrested on Jan. 24 by Pickens County Sheriff�s Office deputies.

The arrest was the result of a search warrant issued for her residence where multiple pieces of U.S. mail and personal checks were located, according to authorities. These items were identified as stolen from postal mailboxes. Postal Inspectors were actively investigating these thefts, according to authorities.

Since that bust was in 2007 and trials take awhile we can safely assume she didn’t get much time. Now they’re facing 20 years but I’m not holding out much hope.

I’m thinking this kid went wrong about 19 years ago, when his parents said “Let’s name him Davario Marquis” which literally translates into the Marquis of crashing stolen cars. I believe the original Marquis Davario was in The Song of Roland.

Anyway, this story from WYFF is just proof that most criminals are just scumbags who don’t bother to obey laws because they’re too stupid to realize they’re going to get caught. Here’s a tip for all you car thieves out there, you can’t learn to drive with marathon sessions of Grand Theft Auto:

GREENVILLE, S.C. — An 18-year-old was arrested after he crashed a car that was stolen from a downtown Greenville parking garage, police said.

The Highway Patrol investigating a car crash over the weekend determined that the 2008 Acura MDX SUV had been stolen from the Riverplace Parking Garage early Friday morning.

The driver, Davario Marquis Massey, is charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing from police, speeding and leaving the scene of an accident.

Get used to seeing this mugshot. I’m predicting a long career of stupidity and criminality from this one.

Finally a decent crime report from GreenvilleOnline.com:

GREER — Cell phones were stolen from two more AT&T stores early this morning after three suspects entered the businesses, cleared out inventory and left within minutes, authorities said.

Greer Police responded to the first robbery on 215 W. Wade Hampton Bllvd. at 6:04 a.m. Video surveillance showed three men between 21 and 30 years old entering the store dressed in dark hooded sweatshirts and wearing black gloves, according to incident reports.

The suspects took an undetermined number of cell phones of different makes and models, along with phone accessories, one report said.

At 6:12 a.m., officers responded to a second AT&T robbery at 5322 Wade Hampton Blvd. Three male suspects used a crow bar to gain entry into the store and then into a locked room that held inventory, according to a report.

The gang has made off with $30,000+ worth of merchandise and they show no signs of stopping. They have been caught on video and don’t wear masks though so I doubt these are pros.

Fox Carolina has a link to surveillance video of the gang.

WYFF points out that the men seem to be extremely familiar with these stores layouts. They also have more detailed descriptions.

The Cherrydale store and the store on Haywood Road were wiped out.

The thieves used crowbars to break through the windows and went straight into storage rooms, leaving the phones connected to security wires alone, investigators said.

Approximately $33,000 in merchandise was stolen, $13,000 worth from the store at 77 Haywood Road and $20,000 worth from the 3209 N. Pleasantburg Drive location.

News Channel 7 has security footage that shows at least three suspects clearing out the inventory of one of the stores. Authorities say a silver four-door SUV may have been involved.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Greenville police said that an automatic teller machine that was ripped from the ground at a bank in January was found in the back of a truck on Wednesday morning.

Police said that the truck was found parked in a wooded area off Verdae Boulevard just before noon.

Investigators said that the ATM appears to belong to a Wachovia Bank on Woodruff Road that was hit on Jan. 18.

How was this crime scene found you ask? Well according to WYFF it’s a funny story…

Brian Jenkins said he was taking a short when a deer darted in front of his car on Hilton Street.

Jenkins said, “It was a big deer. I hunt, so I stopped and said, ‘I’m going to see where this deer is.’”

Jenkins followed the deer about 80 yards into the woods.

“There were deer bones. It was crazy. Then I could see the back of a truck,” he said.

Jenkins said he hollered for his brother-in-the law and together they approached the truck.

Yeah. Sounds reasonable.

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — Three men dressed as women are accused of shoplifting from Walmart in Travelers Rest. Police say the suspects crashed their getaway car on Highway 25.

Travelers Rest Police Chief Lance Crowe said his officers responded to a call about shoplifters at Walmart just after 6am Friday. As officers arrived the three suspects were seen driving out of the parking lot.

“It appeared they were wearing women’s clothing and portraying themselves as women,” police said. “They pulled out in front of a vehicle, the vehicle blared the horn and slammed the brakes trying to avoid an accident and got the officers’ attention.”

Crowe said his officers chased the car until the driver pulled over at Hawkins Road and Highway 25. Crowe said when the officer got out of his patrol car the suspects put their car in reverse, hit the patrol car and then sped off. The officer was not injured.

Crowe said the officer got back in his car and continued his pursuit. He said responding officers later saw the suspects’ wrecked vehicle just past Highway 414. One of the suspects sitting in the roadway. The man was thrown from the vehicle during the wreck. The other two men were trapped inside the car.

“All three of them appeared to be in shock from the impact,” police said.

Police now are saying they don’t know if the women’s clothing was a disguise or a “lifestyle choice” and I assume they are having a hard time reconciling the pop culture image of cross dressers as extremely meek with the reality of tranny scrapiness. I hate to beat a dead horse, but drugs are obviously involved here and that makes anyone dangerous, but more to the point the idea that transvestites are passive is a myth. The first gay charter school in New York, The Harvey Milk School, had a problem with a group of “transgendered” students pulling off a series of extortion robberies and Ed Gein admitted to skinning female corpses so he could (among other things) pretend to be a woman.

The point being that transvestites are no more or less likely to be criminals than anyone else. There’s video at the link and the three cross dressing banditos have been identified as Chester Dean Ray III, Alvin James Ray Jr. and Tremain Allen Lucas.

The stupidity (and classlessness) of this crime is so mind boggling that it’s no surprise the thief was allegedly under the influence.

A police officer assigned to security detail at the visitation said he watched Cato drive the car out of the parking lot of the Thomas McAffee Funeral Home on North Main Street, according to a police incident report. The officer thought Cato was acting suspicious and driving erratic, so he followed the vehicle. A short time later, the car crashed into the light pole.

After the crash, police confirmed that a purse belonging to the wife of former Greenville Police Chief Harold Jennings was stolen from the funeral home. The keys to the Camry were inside the stolen purse, the report said.

Cato was injured in the wreck and taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital, where he was treated.

Cato has been charged with third-degree burglary, grand larceny, driving under the influence, driving under suspension, driving without a license, and driving too fast for conditions.  He is being held at the Greenville County Detention Center in the psychological services unit.