Police Reports: Man Arrested for Macing Motorist

These items were selected from several hundred Mount Pleasant Police Reports filed over the last few weeks of January. All charges are pending and accused parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Man Arrested for “Macing” Motorist

A Mount Pleasant man faces second-degree assault and battery charges after he lost his temper and used pepper spray on another motorist who had a 1-year-old child in the back seat, according to police reports.

Ian Edward Tucker, 39, told police that he “maced” the other motorist because the man slowed down to 10 mph over several speed bumps on Cottingham Drive, according to a police incident report. Police called the assault an incidence of "road rage."

Tucker said the speed bumps damage the suspension on his 1999 BMW, and so after attempting to pass the other motorist, he got out of his car and sprayed pepper spray into the other man’s car, the report states.

Tucker told police he wasn’t aware the young child was in the back seat, and if he had known, he would have thought twice about using the pepper spray, the report states.

Police charged Tucker with the assault charges and booked him into the jail. He posted a $2,500 bond and was released the next day.

Court records show Tucker has quite the driving record. He’s faced Charleston County traffic-court charges seven times since 1993, according to court records.

Man Charged in Snow Globe Attack

An argument between a 44-year-old man and his sister turned ugly when the man threw a snow globe at the woman’s head, according to a police report.

Petere Demetre faces second-degree assault and battery charges for the incident, according to a report. Court records show he has not yet posted bond as of Wednesday evening.

Demetre said his sister also threw an object at him, but police could only locate pieces of the broken snow globe, and they saw no evidence of anything being thrown at him.

DUI Suspect Strikes Police Cruiser

A suspected drunk driver came within just a few dozen yards of getting home late on January 24, but just around the corner from her apartment, the 26-year-old woman lost control of her sedan, and rammed two parked cars.

Add this little detail to the “could your life get any worse” category: the second car was a parked Mount Pleasant Police Department cruiser.

Police have charged Taryn Elizabeth Gotham with DUI and multiple counts of leaving the scene of the accident. The crash occurred around 1:30 a.m. at off Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, just around the corner from the suspect’s apartment.

Gotham told police she was celebrating her birthday earlier in the evening and was texting when the crash occurred, according to the police report. She apparently left the crash scene multiple times after the incident and while police were investigating. Her breath test returned a 0.17 percent, which is just double the legal limit.

Kayak Stolen in Broad Daylight

Have you noticed those spiffy kayaks outside off Johnnie Dodds Boulevard? Well apparently some brazen shoplifter also took notice.

The manager reported to police that someone lifted an $800 kayak from the shop in broad daylight recently. The shopkeeper told officers he put the vessel outside around 10 a.m. and then around 6 p.m., when he was closing, he noticed it was gone.

The kayak and its trailer were apparently strapped down, but the manager told police he does not have a clear view of the shop’s front lawn, so he’s not sure when or how it was taken.

Woman Reports Goose Assault

A Mount Pleasant woman told police that a man shot and killed a goose that lived in the pond on Hospital Drive, according to an incident report.

The woman said she saw a parked SUV near the pond and several geese were waddling nearby. She turned around and then heard a gunshot. When she turned back toward the pond, she saw a man grabbing a dead goose and then getting into the SUV and driving off.

Police listed “society” as the victim in the incident report.