Wife Beater Again and Again

An Aiken man's been charged with criminal domestic violence - third offense.

Ronnie Adkinson, 25, of Aiken, was busted Tuesday morning by Aiken County authorities on the repeat offense.

Ronnie's been in trouble several times before, as the charge indicates. Besides criminal domestic violence, he's been busted in the last few years for contempt of court, malicious injury to real property and an driving with an open container of alcohol in his vehicle, according to jail records.

Attack with a Broom Handle

An Augusta woman's been charged with attacking her adult daughter with a broom handle.

Crystal Denise Reese, 44, of Woodsedge Drive, Augusta, has been charged with simple battery family violence.

Ms. Reese was reportedly arguing with her daughter Monday and then picked up a broom handle and attacked her daughter, a report states. The attack left the daughter with an eye that was visibly red and swollen, a sheriff's report states.

Ms. Reese told authorities that her daughter - identified as 23-year-old Latoya Thurmond - had come inside her apartment and began damaging property. A deputy observed items overturned and a hole in the dining room. No charges were filed against Ms. Thurmond.

A Victim's Story: Road Rage on Whiskey Road

Meet Michael Ciomei.

The Aiken teenager and his younger brother were arrested on Friday for simple assault & battery. Apparently, they didn’t like a fellow motorist telling them it was wrong to throw trash out of their car windows.

The victim says that he saw Michael and his younger brother tossing things out of their car on Friday afternoon along Whiskey Road. The thing that annoyed James (the victim) was that the brothers and an unidentified girl in the car were laughing about it.

So, at the next traffic light, James pulled up and told them to stop littering or they may get in trouble.

Michael, 18 (shown above) and the younger brother allegedly reacted by jumping out of their vehicle in the middle of Whiskey Road, grabbing a tire iron and chasing the victim as he tried to drive away, James said. But the brothers caught him.

James told authorities that the brothers dragged him out of his Jeep and hit him in the face and back, breaking his nose and swelling his eye.

The 31-year-old victim, who asked only to be identified by his first name, was helped by a woman and her daughter, who witnessed a violent assault.

An ambulance arrived followed by public safety officers, who captured he Ciomei brothers and later charged them. The younger brother, 14, was charged as a juvenile because of his age.

The Ciomei family could not be reached. There is no telephone listing for them.

James defends his actions, saying he was standing up for what was right.

“I think this country was founded on people standing up for what they believe in,” he said.

Public Safety Lt. David Turno said they don’t recommend people confronting other motorists.

“We would encourage people to notify law enforcement so we could intervene. Just like this, you don’t know if people are armed,” he said.

As soon as the case investigator returns to work, James plans to try and get the charge against Michael increased to aggravated assault. Lt. Turno said that is a possibility, depending on the evidence.

In the meantime, James has an appointment with an optometrist regarding his eye injury. And as he recovers, he says has no regrets about what he said to the teens. He wishes other people would have the confidence to speak up when they see somebody doing something wrong.

“People aren’t standing up for what’s right anymore,” he said.

What do you think? Tell us in the comment section below.

That Looks Painful

It's not clear how he ended up with such a knot on his face, but 38-year-old Carthrelle Godbee has to be in some pain.

Mr. Godbee was busted Monday in Richmond County on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and a second felony cocaine offense.

We hope he gets that looked at. Ouch!

Masturbation For Hire, Part II

Another woman has been charged with masturbation for hire in Columbia County.

According to authorities, last week's arrest of 54-year-old Soon Han (shown above) is related to the December arrest of another woman at King’s Day Spa on South Belair Road, Columbia County authorities said.

In that case, 57-year-old Kyong Cha Yun was charged with masturbation for hire after offering masturbation to an undercover officer. An investigation revealed that Ms. Han was offering the same illegal service to customers, according to Capt. Steve Morris.

According to Georgia statutes: (a) A person, including a masseur or masseuse, commits the offense of masturbation for hire when he erotically stimulates the genital organs of another, whether resulting in orgasm or not, by manual or other bodily contact exclusive of sexual intercourse or by instrumental manipulation for money or the substantial equivalent thereof. (b) A person convicted of the offense of masturbation for hire shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Serenity Now!

A North Augusta woman was busted Sunday for trespassing after notice.

Serenity Soderstrom, 20, of North Augusta, was booked into the Aiken County Jail on the misdemeanor charge at 7 p.m. Sunday. The arresting agency was the Aiken Department of Public Safety.

We can't understand why people are surprised when they get arrested for trespassing. They've been warned, right?

According to a South Carolina attorney, the trespass law in the Palmetto State requires that you have notice that you are trespassing before you can be arrested. In some cases, an individual can have you served with a formal "trespass notice," which will later serve as evidence that you were warned to stay off of the property.

Sometimes signs are clearly posted that prohibit trespassers. In other cases, a person may be arrested when they are verbally told to leave and they refuse to do so.

Exclusive: Inmate Killer Arrested Again

Exclusive from The Jail Report:

An Aiken man who served time for killing an accused sex offender inside the Aiken County Detention Center last year was re-arrested Saturday morning.

Andrew York, 38, was arrested by Aiken public safety officers just after midnight Saturday on charges of malicious injury to property and disorderly conduct. The charges were minor enough that Mr. York was able to post $1,355 bond and get out of jail before the day was over.

The detention center may have given him nightmares. Last April, he was being held in the jail on breach of trust charges when he punched 55-year-old Dale Sengelman after Mr. Sengelman had grabbed his butt. Mr. Sengelman hit his head on the concrete floor and died a day later.

Mr. York pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in July and was sentenced to 10 months in prison because investigators don't think he meant to kill the man. He was given credit for four months he spent in prison.

It is unclear when Mr. York was released from prison. A website for the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services has no record of him.

Aiken County jail records show that Mr. York is a repeat offender who likes to cheat people. When he killed the inmate, he was being held on charges of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, accused of taking a car and not returning it. He has criminal history that involved a number of misdemeanors dating back to 1995.

In 2007, he was arrested on Christmas Day for stealing bicycles and possessing tools for committing the crime. In 2008, he was busted on three counts of credit card fraud.

For the record, the man who Mr. York killed was being held on two counts of lewd act on a child under 16. Mr. Sengelman was from Orangeburg and was accused of fondling two children while he was working in Salley. His nickname was Santa Claus. According to police records, he had touched the juveniles in a sexual manner and talked about sex with them.