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the truth about aiken county's police departments, what corrupt sheriff mike hunt don't want you to know about- here are posts from several aiken county citizens straight from www.topix.com:
"lt daniel gainey, who lead the aiken county sheriff's office narcotics unit, was fired for misconduct in office to include falsification of time cards, etc. sheriff mike hunt refused to comment on this termination as his officers continue to break the rules and violate the law in aiken county."
"aiken is not like other places in south carolina. for some reason it's just a screwed up place with alot of public and law enforcement corruption."
"i had a run in with the aiken county sheriffs office one time. i had a private detective stacking out my home due to injury on the job. this man came in my yard and told my wife he worked for the sce&g power company. i called the sheriffs office and the officer pulled the man over. the officer contacted me and confirmed that the man did work for the power company. i did some home work and come to find that the man was a private detective and the officer lied to me. i call seld and they said i could put the detective firm on no trespass notice. i called and talked to the officers supervisor and told him that his officer had lied to me. i was told he didn't lie to me and that he would get back with me. upon getting back with me he said the officer had to lie to protect the detectives investigation. i then told the supervisor that i just wanted the man put on trespass notice. i was told that sheriff hunt said i could not do that. my question is that is sled said i could why can mr. hunt tell me i can't. i think things are run on the good ole boy system here in aiken sc!"
"i also heard that mr. hunts duty weapon got stolen out of his county issued car. what was mr. hunts punishment or is the sheriff not punishable. if this had been a deputy he would hav lost his job. so who is mr. hunt acountable to."
"any law enforcement officer who looses his weapon or allows it to get stolen must be charged with "failure to secure his weapon." there is probable cause for sled to charge sheriff mike hunt with this charge."
"sheriff mike hunt also withheld an arrest warrant against former clearwater fire chief mike toole for more than 18 months until he got pissed with him and then decided to serve him with the aged hearsay warrant although he had already fired the deputy who initially sought the warrant from the magistrate. this is also probable cause for sled to issue an arrest warrant against sheriff mike hunt for misconduct in office and obstruction of justice. "
"what a f&&kup sheriff. i heard all he has is a ged, not even a high school diploma. it seems like he would toss any one of his deputies under the bus when the going gets tough. who would want to work for this idiot? "
"that's the problem, ged: not very many self respecting professionals would want to work for the aiken county sheriff's department. in my heart i know that the majority of them are professional people working a thankless job with crappy hours and crappier pay and i thank them for that. the problem is that when they do hire a bad apple, they do an amazing amount of damage, not just petty stuff like pissing off the mayor's wife either. my personal opinion is that he hiring practices need to be looked at, and if that is the responsibility of sheriff hunt, then so be it. but remember, a sheriff is an elected official, a politician. we can vote him out if someone else runs. "
www.topix.com/forum/city/aiken-sc/tobm51sbh4sb38jla
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I remember I was in high school I was just getting home police cars coming out my drive. My mom inside balling her eyes out.
I ask her what happened.
The Gregs gas station was robbed & there was a description of the guy and what he was wearing.
My mom was heading out to go to the store and noticed a shirt in the drive way same color in the description. Our driveway is about 1/2 mile long surrounded by woods so she thought that it was weird clothing would be in the drive way.
So she calls it in just so they could take note if it was related the guy they was looking for may be shirtless or in a different color shirt.
6 cops and Mike Hunt show up searching the house going in every room and searched the camper outside. Interrogating her saying she was hiding him. She kept telling them they needed to leave. When they found nothing mike tells her he will find a way to connect her to the robbery and come back and arrest her.
Let's just say after that occurred my mom said she will never call the cops again even if she witnessed a murder
Is this site still available
20 YEARS OF COMPLAINTS FROM RETIREE HERE FROM CALIFORNIA (4 PDs there HP, MIcrosoft, et al.):
1. S.O. DISMISSES H.S. SCHOOL BOMBING THREAT DUE TO I.T. KNEE-JERK IGNORANCE
Feb. 7, 2019: I saw a headline in the A-S that the AC S.O. decided bomb threats at Midland Valley HS came “from outside the country, ” when any student with a laptop/smartphone can use "IP address spoofing" to make any email/phone call appear to come from anywhere in the world. They totally blew the threats off, endangering the entire school. I immediately contacted the school principal and informed him, he was very concerned, and I later sent him another article about how, soon after, the No. Augusta PD handled it properly, with an arrest. I suggested the PrIncipal call the FBI next time. Also emailed/discussed w/AC school board (all emails saved).
The ACSO is totally clueless about technology. The S.O. posted for years 2 general email addresses on their website, but their IT has set their Windows (or any other OS--they all have this control) Security Slider to only allow access to users on the AC Server (AC employees only), i.e., the InTRAweb/INTRAnet, and stops short of users outside, using the INTERnet. People email the S.O. to report crime or ask for help, but never get through, and since they don’t get an Undeliverable message, they wait and wait and wait…Dangerous and irresponsible. I reported this to them many times & even told them how to fix it. They ignored me. (And yes, again, I did in fact write the book while at Microsoft.) I found this out when called by Capt. Fogle re a neighborhood speeding/reckless driving problem coming from one house, and he wasn’t aware I’d complained many times in email. (No complaints about him.) As of 12/2020, the S.O. personnel/department email addresses are still not correct and confuse email address domains (.net, .gov, .org) as if interchangeable: they are not. Mail is sometimes returned as undeliverable.
2. DISPATCHER HANGS UP ON ME WHEN I CALLED IN 4th OF JULY ROOF FIRE
On the Fourth of July, 2002, I had just moved in, and neighbors were setting off bottle rockets that kept starting fires on my leafy roof. I tried to keep putting them out and finally called 911 about 10 p.m. and asked for, not an expensive fire response, but ONE officer to talk to the neighbors. By that time, I was hysterical and losing the battle, running in and out breathlessly. (I had no cell phone and was using my landline inside.) I used the expression ”F****** fireworks, ” thinking we had free speech in this state, and the dispatcher chewed me out & hung up on me. No one ever came or even called back. I was angry and called the S.O. the next day and spoke to Lt. Michael Frank. He said it was OK for her to hang up even on a fire call, since I used “foul language.” He threatened to arrest me for it, and I told him if he thought I was bad, he should listen to Nicole Simpson’s 911 tapes. I had checked the SC law overnight and had to explain to him it was illegal only in the context of a criminal threat (never made), in which case you’d already be in big trouble. I told him to never try to bluff or bully me again. He didn't learn.
3. FALSE ARREST, HARRASSMENT, GENERAL STUPIDITY
Then, later that year, I went to get gas up at the corner, like I did every week. When I got home, I was swarmed by 3 units, one S.O. and two DPS. Turns out the girl at the station reported me as a “drive-away” and they “escorted” me back to the station. But it didn’t occur to ANY of those officers or the cashier inside that those pumps would NOT dispense gas unless your credit card is approved first, and a drive-away has been impossible for years, due to POS OLTP (point of sale online transaction processing). Her terminal froze, not my problem. Two on-duty DPS units went out of their jurisdiction (at that time) to act as bagmen to collect an unfounded debt from a private merchant. Improper and illegal in so many ways. That call should have been screened out. From then on, I became known to my new neighbors as the old lady who did something so bad it took 3 police cars to haul her off. Great for my “street cred” but hard to make friends after that. It ruined my retirement. Still stings.
(Also a dangerous misuse of mutual aid: those 2 PSOs might have been needed at the other end of town to back up, say, someone like PSO Sandy Rogers, who was assassinated on the job, due to DPS bungling on every level, including the dispatcher!)
4. DPS PSO SANDY ROGER'S DEATH (DPS NEGLIGENCE)
Part of any PD dispatcher's job (Palo Alto, CA City PD/FD) is to do what we called "monitor the white channel, " which means listening to adjacent city's radio traffic to be aware of potential future problems on the channel used for mutual aid. Good Watch Commanders and Patrol Captains/Field Supervisors also listen to it when possible. Trust me, I audit local PD radio traffic, and it's relatively slow. The morning PSO Rogers was murdered on the job, it was known by Augusta PD that their victim's killer was heading towards Aiken in the IDENTIFIED car he stole from his girlfriend (pregnant or with a child?) after murdering them both in Augusta. Aiken 911 should have heard it, and a BOL should have been put out immediately to all Aiken DPS & SO officers, with the descriptions of the car and suspect. Nobody even listened to that traffic. Rogers walked into a suicidal situation after the dispatcher allowed the other 2-3 officers responding to an unrelated call to go to the other end of the park (another SOP error), leaving her not backed up; True, she was complacent in approaching the car alone, but proper PD procedures would have kept her protected. (And let's face it, limited racial profiling is life-savingly appropriate, per FBI Index Crime stats, and this subject looked "gangsta"). The DPS let Rogers down on every level (including training and supervision). But it started, as it usually does, with the incompetent, lazy, uncaring dispatcher. (Neither agency will give me exact timelines to verify this, but even if AIken didn't know in time, they still should do this monitoring.)
I have many other stories, all from other retirees from other parts of the country used to better policing.
5. HARASSMENT, 3 COUNTS PERJURY IN COURT BY S.O. LT. MICHAEL FRANK
After going nuts listening to Russ Ferrara’s son’s unmuffled, deafening, unmuffled racing dirt bike noise (one house away), 12 hours a day, for a year and a half. I dreaded calling the S.O again, but I got up the nerve to email and complain (I cited the nuisance noise law), and twice or so they went out, but it didn’t stop. I then went over to try to talk to his mother, who chased me off with her 2 dogs. After she refused to talk to me, and as I was running away, I did say something about her husband’s ongoing sex predator arrest. Hey, it was all I had, and I was running with bad knees. Soon after, I was sued by Russ Ferrara (former County Councilman) for libel. His wife filed the suit for “Liable” (a teacher?). I had said nothing to her, but she maintained my email to the S.O. was libelous. It wasn’t, just the facts. When we went to court, my attorney, a brilliant dynamo from Columbia, paid for by my homeowners’ policy, represented me, and Ferrara had subpoenaed about 6-8 deputies to testify against me, including Lt. Frank. (Frank and Ferrara went way back to their college years in Boston.) My atty. had dug up a recent, active Injunction against the noise from a different neighbor and asked Frank why they had failed/refused to enforce it. Hems and haws from Frank, and then my atty. caught him perjuring himself 3 times. The deputies in fact said nothing bad about me. The judge threw the case out midtrial with disgust, Judge Early threw out his appeal, but it took a year off my life, and I was afraid that entire year of losing my home if I lost. (Re Frank--how do you get promoted from reporter to Lieutenant? Where I come from, it takes years of hard work, competition, and study to be promoted to Lt.) I and my attorney complained to SLED about Frank's perjury, and I believe the judge sent the transcript to SLED.
6. ANTI-GOVT. MILITIA TYPE NEIGHBOR TRAFFICKING IN MILITARY WEAPONS
I had several problems with Len Rowell (60 Converse, full name, I think, James Len Rowell)) after I emailed the ATF about his activities. The first 2-3 years I lived here, he was regularly shooting anything in his backyard that moved, cats, squirrels, birds, rabbits, anything (he claimed the squirrels were “eating his house”), even though there were children playing in both adjacent backyards and I could hear ricochets off trees. I put a stop to it, after Sheriff Hunt told me “a ma-an can do anything he wants to on his own property” by calling the DNR to cite him for “Hunting out of Season.” That worked, mostly, since then. He changed then from the shooting to small-scale rifle trafficking, one or two at a time, the same 2 vehicles/associates. I called the S.O. again, and again was told that was not illegal. One day, I saw him take in a huge rifle like nothing I’d ever seen before, and I know assault rifles. I looked online to see what it might be, and the closest resembling it was a military rifle called a NATO “minigun, ” like a small cannon, same size/shape, I emailed the ATF that time, with descriptions of the gun, the associates, vehicles, everything I could remember. The two vehicles, one a huge shiny, new black Humvee-like SUV, and a smaller, American-made shiny black SUV. Both were “pimped up“ and heavily chromed. They both had the same front license plates (criminals only back in), white with rifles, the first with a hunting rifle and the 2nd with an assault rifle. I hoped it might be a gun collectors’ club, worried it might be a homegrown militia, and considered it might be a bunch of misfits trying to look dangerous, to make them feel “manly” & intimidate people. I believe now it was worse than that. (I recently emailed the ATF the photos he posted online of his assault rifles, etc.) They’d both pick up the guns, aim them around at the trees, etc., clearly wanting others to see it. Later, two pairs of investigators (don’t know which agency) came out to the house next door (Cheadles, 58 Converse) and peered into the Rowell’s back yard. I’m pretty sure Linda Cheadle warned Rowell, and he started cleaning up the “evidence” (although I’m sure if anyone went back there with a metal detector and a cadaver dog, he’d find hundreds of little skeletons and spent casings). He claimed he turned it into a “nature preserve.” I’m sure he figured out I had reported it. Using the excuse I was feeding homeless cats (not illegal, BTW), for several days he hid out in my bushes, photographing me, looking through my windows, trapping, caging, and most likely killing cats. They’d just disappear. Rowell told everyone he had been “depitized” by Animal Control. During that period, I did call the S.O. to intervene several times--I was terrified-- and all officers who responded were OK. (When I moved here, Rowell had a 30’ Confederate flag on his roof, and 2-3 paper targets he shot at in his backyard of solid-black male figures with curly hair. He fits the profile of the Oklahoma City bombers, VERY anti-Government, hates police, anti-authority, white supremacist, etc., and coupled with his weaponry and beer guzzling, I believe is a very dangerous man. I think he is capable of snapping and hurting a lot of people. He’s the only one in this neighborhood I think is seriously dangerous.)
Witness to flag/shootings: Robert Pattison, African-American, former local public safety, still owner of 54 Converse, who moved out years’ ago (wonder why) and rented out the house since.
(skipping ahead, more years, more of the same, but I chose to handle myself or call state/federal LE agencies instead)
7. STALKING, ILLEGAL SHOOTING, DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE
March 2018: Caught Len Rowell (60 Converse) hiding behind the pampas grass (he’d built a small duck blind and kept urinating in it) across from my house, watching me with his rifle. When I caught him, he ran back into his house. Called S.O., 2 deputies came out, accused me of lying & being paranoid, even though that whole episode would have been caught on at least 2 neighbor security cams. They refused to view the videos. (I asked the 2 young officers their names, but they ignored my question.) They were rude and disrespectful. The Goodyear tire store showed me numerous buckshot holes in my van's undercarriage, destroying my A/C and causing vacuum and fluid leaks.
8. ATTEMPED MURDER
July 4, 2018, Len Rowell stood across the street and when it got dark (during other fireworks) fired with a huge shotgun about 12 times towards me and my home. He’d go back in between shots for 10 minutes, I assumed to reload. I was petrified, froze, and figured he’d finally snapped, and this time emailed ATF (he was already on their watchlist, I think). They called the ACSO, who called me to take a “report” on the phone, showing great reluctance and annoyance with me, again not believing me, despite 2 neighbors’ security cams. Once again, they refused to view the videos. No one talked to him. I learned by then they don’t even document many requests/calls. (There were about a dozen other calls re his shooting that don’t have report/case numbers.)
9. FALSE REPORT TO S.O. BY ROWELL, HARASSMENT
Soon after, I sent to Rowell, at my attorney’s advice, a formal Cease and Desist letter, Certified Mail, listing his attacks on me with dates, times, case numbers, etc., and cc’ed several federal & state LE agencies. A deputy (Moore) came by the next day (he wouldn’t bother to read it) and chewed me out for sending it (they came by that time because Rowell had complained to the S.O. about my letter). So, the SO won’t protect me but won’t allow me to protect myself, legally?
10. ATTEMPTED BRIBE LAUNDERING BY AC CODE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTOR BAYNE
(letter sent to SLED as formal complaint)
To: SLED Investigative Services/Special Victims
Date: 7/12/2018
Earlier this year I paper-mailed your office some facts and emails, making a Formal Complaint that the Director of Aiken County Code Enforcement, Paige Bayne, attempted to commit Bribe Laundering. I know it takes a long time to handle cases, and this crime type goes back to the 80's RICO prosecutions, so few understand it, but I know she did it. I'm writing this to summarize the points, highlight the signs/symptoms of the crime, and add some points I'm not sure I told you before.
1. 12/23/17 Her office gave me a "CC 15-22" citation to clear underbrush/weeds in my backyard (a forest). I was given 30 days to clear it or appear in court. I did EXACTLY what the first officer said, but when he came back with Bayne and two other enforcers to check (all in riot gear), suddenly Bayne expanded the scope of the work and threatened to send out a county chain gang and put a lien on my home for the bill. (I'm 75 and was recovering from recent heart problems.) Having a reverse mortgage, that would be immediate foreclosure.
2. I explained I had no money, had been ill and it was freezing (25 degrees), was in tears, but I decided to scramble and do as much as I could. Over the next 2 weeks I emailed them at least a dozen times asking specifics, what to cut, where, etc., and they refused to answer ANY of my emails (sign #1). That silence/dereliction took up my allowed 30 days. I went to Court and got a 60-day Continuance.
3. She did email me (sent you copy) suggesting that she meet privately with my landscaper, leaving me out of the loop. After all, I'm old and wouldn't understand what she said. She didn't want to waste her time on me. (I'm just the homeowner/target.) (Sign #2)
4. I applied to United Way for free yardwork help, and they agreed, but when they met with her, again she went away from me, to the top of the hill, and privately expanded AGAIN for the 3rd time (sign #3), the scope of the job to almost the entire 1/3 acre lot/forest, knowing it was more than they could do without a bulldozer. (I'd provided the Court county satellite photos proving my yard was the same as others, but they weren't admitted as evidence.) I soon got a letter from United Way backing out of helping me, explaining Bayne's demands were constantly escalating, unreasonable and impossible. AND YOU CAN'T GET A BRIBE OUT OF A NONPROFIT! (sign #4). When we walked back to her truck, she threatened to add my "faulty" leach field next (it's fine, was just inspected, sign #5). She sadistically applied more severe pressure. Part of the game.
5. I went to work and did all of the area myself. I broke 2 chainsaws. It cost me another heart attack, severe, almost fatal internal/diverticular bleeding, and 2 dislocated shoulders, four ER hospitalizations & ambulance bills, and many thousands of dollars in medical costs. The damage to my mental health was incalculable. But the 2 enforcers came out (without Bayne) the last day and cleared the ticket, one day after I told their director I’d complained to SLED.
During this entire period, I tried emailing every level above Bayne many times, asking for help, reporting my suspicions, but NO ONE in the County Govt. would ever answer my emails.
Here's what I remember about how Bribe Laundering works. You might never have encountered it before. (I worked for 4 PDs in California many years' ago & it was more common then.)
Bribe Laundering was integral to mob operations. It consists of a corrupt official targeting a desperate homeowner, business owner, tax debtor, etc., threatening them with jail, loss of property, etc. and getting them to the point where they will agree to anything. Then the official suggests they get together PRIVATELY with the target's contractor (in my case, a landscaper) and "discuss" what has to be done. The target must be kept out of the loop. The contractor wants the work, so they agree to pad the bill with a bribe for the official. The work gets done, the target is happy to be in the clear, and best of all, and why this crime goes on so long, the target didn't know a bribe had been paid and therefore didn't complain or report it to anyone. So on the surface, no one ever knows. However it ends up, the official is in the clear. Before I did the work myself, I'd tried to get estimates from a few contractors, but several told me they wouldn't do county citations anymore because they'd had this same experience with her (she'd refuse to clear the ticket if they didn't cooperate, so the target would be angry and blame/sue the contractor).
I have kept all emails and correspondence, dates, logs for this entire period. I want this woman looked into. Aiken County government has totally failed me. This crooked official took 90% of whatever remaining time I had left to to live, according to my doctor. The heart damage alone from the physical labor, trying to keep my home, was deadly. My mental health is permanently damaged. She deserves a thorough investigation, and I deserve some justice.
Please take your time. I'm not pressuring you. I am just asking to be taken seriously. I worked full-time 45 years for this tiny cottage and almost lost it because of her.
Thanks (call me anytime if you have questions, need more).
cc: U.S. DOJ, S.C. AG, FBI
(NOTE: This whole nightmare was orchestrated by a female ACSO Sgt. after I reported my crazy elderly next-door neighbor building a huge device, hole, trenches, etc. clearly intended to blow-up a VW-size stump next to my home & on top of the gas line.)
11. HARASSMENT AND LYING BY DEP. BUSBEE
June. 2018, Dep. Busbee came out to try to arrest me for “harassment.” I'd complained to Mr. Central HVAC (Robt. Giancroce) about his large ad sign illegally posted across the street for years. I had to look at it every time I looked out my front windows. When I complained online/google review, Giancroce called me 4 times drunk one Friday night and threatened me. I had just gotten out of the hospital and couldn’t make it to the phone until the 4th call, at which point after I heard him rant, I called him an a****** and slammed the phone down. Free speech, Chaucer and Shakespeare used those "curse" words, and G. illegally recorded those calls (may be legal in SC but not in the USA!). Deputy Busbee obviously had never read the SC legal definition of harassment. Busbee either lied, bluffed, or was uninformed about the law (per Co. Code 4.4.5/1, the sign was illegal) but bullied & argued with me and was totally uninformed about other points of law that came up when I asked why didn't the S.O. help me about real, dangerous, life-threatening problems I've had here. He got both those 2 laws wrong, but saved face by issuing me a “Trespass Warning” to never go back to Mr. Central’s office, even though I’d never been there, didn't know where it was, only called once, nicely asking them to remove the sign. G. filed a Libel suit against me, I was Pro Se, it was finally Dismissed, after 2 years of my having to do legal research, write defenses, and suffer more deadly stress. Giancroce had his friend John Harte (Federal conviction, 2008) threaten me, to take the review off google. I do online background research for a few PIs. While researching Giancroce and his Atty. Will Edwards, I found undeniable evidence of serious money laundering of Harte's embezzled funds, tax fraud (G. had 26 DBAs for a tiny office) and other white collar violations, and sent complaints/reports with my proof/evidence to DOJ, FBI, IRS, and other LE agencies. (Status unknown at this time.) In Edwards' Motion to Compel hearing, which I won, Edwards committed serious incidents of Felony Perjury during court, proven on paper, to Judge Clifton Newman, and on the Court Record. I asked the AC Solicitor to prosecute his Perjury, but they refused/never contacted me.
After the first trial ended in a Mistrial, after CC 4.4.5 had been established in Court, Giancroce came out the next day and put the sign back up in front of my home, filming and baiting me. I removed it anyway, and Dep. Mathews had to come out to break things up. A few days later, Dep. Brown rudely harrassed and threatened me ("I'm gonna take you straight to Hunt") when I was removing another sign around the corner. He stood over me, forcing me to put it back. I'd just had to break and climb in a window since I got locked out, and my clothes were torn and my arms and legs were bleeding from glass cuts, and I was driving to the doctor. Thug and bully.
12. DPS/SO ALL-NIGHT PARTY ACROSS THE STREET
Around the last week of this August, 2019, about 1:00 a.m., I awoke to find 4 fire trucks/engines and 3 or 4 S.O. Patrol units out front, responding to something at Ashley Dyches' house (62 Converse). They were parked tightly bumper to bumper along this tiny one-lane road, all engines running & lights on, and the last unit didn't clear until about 4 a.m., when I checked the clock and returned to bed. I checked the newspapers the next week to try to find out what happened, but there was nothing. I then asked two reporter friends, one at the Aiken Standard and one at the Augusta Chronicle (safely assuming both Co. agencies would lie), to find out why so many units for almost 4 hours, and both reporters were told by both agencies there was "no such call." I then emailed the DPS myself, and eventually got a copy of a fire report (with incorrect data, changed times, saying they went Code 3 but they went Code 2, no sirens) saying it was a smoking bathroom candle. I don't doubt there was smoke damage, because there were cleanup trucks, including a tax- and donor-supported disaster relief truck, the next couple of days. The house stayed empty for a couple of months, when she returned.
Eight EXPENSIVE, tax-supported fire and S.O. units for almost 4 hours--that's about what you'd see in a 2 or 3-alarm fire or serious crime cleanup. Here's the mystery:
1. The hydrant is out front and it was never tapped (no fire).
2. No hose was laid (no chance of fire).
3. There was NO smoke coming from inside her house through open doors & windows, etc.
4. There was NO smell of any smoke in the air (house is across th street).
5. One deputy was wandering around in her back yard.
6. There were no other agencies responding, no EMS, no DEA, no arrests.
I theorized it might have been a secret goodbye party, if she'd planned to move (she aways bragged her boyfriend was on the S.O., so don't mess with her), a spontaneous party among friends on County time, a covered up shotgun suicide, a hot meth lab, a secret Klan meeting, or what...? The next morning, one of her landscaping employees had a loud, hysterical breakdown in her front yard that lasted at least an hour, with his truck radio turned all the way up, screaming and crying. Not sure if related.
All those thousands of dollars of taxes we paid for "a smokingcandle, " which SHOULD HAVE TAKEN one fire unit and maybe one S.O. about 10 minutes. Smoke damage is her problem. Worst of all, once again, those huge trucks were parked tightly bumper to bumper on this one-lane street, and if any had been called to respond to a REAL fire or emergency, they could not have cleared without leaving first-in first-out, delaying any real emergency response by at least 20-25, maybe life-or-death, critical minutes. You can't just zip around in a fire engine.
AIken County needs to realize we taxpayers EXPECT total accountability and transparency. This disgraceful party amounted to time theft and dereliction of duty and could have resulted in negligent homicide.
NOTE: Ashley Dyches (related to former SC Public Works Dir. John Dyches) also ran an illegal landscaping business across the street, with trucks, trailers, noisy equipment and employees, their dogs running loose, foul diesel exhaust, rowdy behavior, and when I asked her how she was getting away with running that business against County zoning laws, she told me she paid a regular "variance fee" (bribe) to Paige Bayne, AC Dir. of Code Enforcement (see Item 10).
13. ILLEGAL TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION OF MICHELE BUNKER'S CRIMINAL CASE/PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
(email sent to Augusta & AC Councils and other agencies/authorities)
I live in Aiken and am concerned about how the alleged Richmond County GA crimes committed recently by Michele Bunker (wife of Aiken County Council Chairperson Gary Bunker) got swept under the rug and somehow the jurisdiction was (illegally) transferred to Aiken, SC, where his friends at the Court and DPS could have them dismissed. This woman allegedly stole IDs to try to steal money from dying hospice patients where she worked in Augusta. That's about the lowest crime I've ever heard of. They had solid evidence, and it was the Richmond Co. D.A.'s public mandate to try to prosecute her in the legally correct jurisdiction, Richmond County, GA:
https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/local/police-no-probable-cause-for-arrest-in-investigation-of-aiken-county-council-chairman-s-wife/article_5496165a-03fa-11eb-b582-8b62ef00639e.html
What does Aiken, SC have to do with this? It doesn't matter legally where she lives, where her bank is, etc., it's where she committed the alleged theft, Augusta/Richmond County, that determines jurisdiction. Since when can someone move a criminal case to not just a different county but different STATE where they live and have a husband with political power so they can get away with a crime? Who paid whom what? This whole thing stinks, and I want answers. If these crimes had been committed by a black, poor, or "unconnected" woman from Augusta, I guarantee she'd be in jail. She should.
Also, I am asking your Mayor and Council to refer this case back to the Richmond County D.A. for re-investigation as a possibly serious security risk for these reasons:
1. Mr. Bunker and his wife have recent Foreclosure activities on the Aiken County Public Index, indicating a serious personal need for money, implying he might have also been involved in his wife's alleged criminal plan;
2. Mr. Bunker is employed at SRS and has a DoD Security Clearance, which should be re-examined in view of those financial needs and instabilities;
3. Mr. Bunker has a position as Aiken County Council Chairperson of fiduciary responsibility to the public and a unique opportunity for other financial misdeeds, including new federal COVID funds;
4. Mr. Bunker's public, blind allegiance to and support of Donald Trump, a known close associate of Putin; Trump is considered by many federal & military officials and intelligence professionals to have acted more as a Russian agent in his loyalties than as our protector, and to have shown no regard for national security on many/most occasions.
The nonsensical whitewash in the attached article in the Aiken Standard, which notoriously serves as nothing more than a lying propaganda tool for the local GOP, clealry intended to hoodwink the public and dismiss this alleged crime, could be in fact the tip of a very serious iceberg. Please refer this case back to the Richmond County D.A. and to the other govt. and L.E. agencies involved.
14. MURDER OF ANNE FOX SMITH
For over 10 years, everyone in Aiken has known Smith's ex-husband murdered her, and her son has knowledge of the crime. Experienced, competent detectives know witnesses change attitudes over the years, many/most becoming more willing to testify, no longer fearful of the suspect, and that son has had 10 years to get pissed at his father and be flipped. But no arrest has been or will ever be made because the DPS is made up of mostly men who believe their wives are their property and that a husband has a right to kill his mate if she displeases or disobeys him (she was divorcing him). The DPS has NO CLUE how to interrogate, investigate, or solve a homicide, and all they had to do is convene a grand jury, but they don't even know how to do that. They do know how to beat up blacks with their batons and rustle up and bully the poorer citizens of AIken, but that's where their skills stop. This murder sticks in the craws of ALL educated, professional women in town, but we know they won't close the case because the DPS thinks "the [censored] needed killing." Extreme, deep LE misogynism runs deep in this case and most others on this list.
15. SHERIFF HUNT FIRES UNDERCOVER TEAM ILLEGALLY, KNEE-JERK FASCISM
In October 2007, 4 undercover narcotics officers were summarily fired the morning after they were accused of improper (consensual) conduct with a woman on the job. They were fired as a group, with no investigation, no due process, no union representation or support, in violation of many other federal labor laws. Undercover teams have the most dangerous LE job, their culture is unique, they have the highest suicide rate, and evolved departments cut them some slack in areas like that. Besides violating the officers' rights, EVERY arrest they all made over the many years they worked became immediately eligible for retrial and acquittal. Hunt is so rash and stupid he obviously did NOT consult with the County Solicitor first, who obviously would have told him the dire consequences. All those drug dealers back out on the street, thanks to Hunt. More stupidity wasting more of our tax dollars and ruining possibly innocent officers' lives. We had a good County Solicitor then, Barbara Morgan, who of course left her job a year later. Who wouldn't? Since then, we've been stuck with Strom Thurmond Jr., whose name tells it all.
16. SLED LT. PAUL LAROSA'S REFUSAL TO ALLOW ME TO EXERCISE MY RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, HARASSMENT
March 2, 2021, I was visited at my home by a "Mobile Mental Health Unit": consisting of two therapists from the Aiken Mental Health Center, guarded by a ACSO Deputy. They questioned me about my email sent to the AIken CIty Council and CIty officials opposing the Woodside Estates Deer Cull, sponsored by City Councilwoman Andrea Gregory. I assured them I was not a danger to anyone but would not stop fighting for animals. The visit was terrifying and intimidating, and totally unjustified. I'd meant what I'd said in those emails, and nothing I said was criminal. I later called the Mental Health Center to find out why they came, and spoke to one of the therapists, who told me it was Lt. Paul Larosa of SLED who sent them, for a "threat assessment." A "THREAT ASSESSMENT"? For a 78-year old, disabled cat lady who didn't want the murder of innocent deer going on in her neighborhood, 30-30's booming all the time, blood all over the streets. And I'm the threat? He bluffed and bullied me and threatened to have me arrested for Criminal Threat. I looked back over EVERY piece of email I'd sent, and there was NOTHING criminal said. (I'd just won, Pro Se, in Court a 2-year long case defending my right to Free Speech, so I knew that law thoroughly.) He'd counted on his ability to bully and bluff me, and I went along at the time out of fear and then dropped it. But I resented having my free speech censored by someone in law enforcement who is clearly ignorant about Free Speech, Civil Rights, and federal law.
17. SLED'S LAROSA'S SECOND TIME TERRORIZING AND THREATENING ME TO CURB MY RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, THREAT TO ARREST, ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, HARASSMENT
Sometime in 2018, I'd sent a snarky, mean-girl type email to Jane Page Thompson via the AIken Republican Club, both private parties, after seeing Borat's Showtime movie "Who Is America?" She was the delegate to the GOP Convention in NC in 2016 who nominated Trump for President. She and her husband, Aiken residents, were interviewed by Borat, and proven to be brain-dead, embarrassing idiots. When she got my email, Thompson sent George Galvan, another ARC member, to stalk, threaten, and terrorize me. I received several obscene death-threat emails from him and saw his car out front several times the same morning. I ignored him. HOWEVER, that afternoon, .an ACSO deputy came by to warn me someone at ARC overheard their conspiracy and was concerned about my welfare. I had not called the SO for reasons formerly explained. I thought nothing more of it again until I noticed, in July 2021, she'd posted my email with a very libellous reponse about me on a Public page in Facbeook called "Coffee and Ink, " accessible to EVERYONE in the world whether or not they had a FB account, and when I'd googled myself that day, as I regularly do to avoid ID theft, it came up as the first entry for my name, despite my life of accomplishments. I sent her 3 emails asking her to remove it and she refused. I then received an email from Lt. Larosa, fishing for info, and when I didn't mention that incident, he went back to threatening to arrest me for Criminal Threat, again when there was NO threat made or illegal language used, I'd simply asked her in those 3 progressively strong emails to remove it, she wouldn't, so I had a friend at Facebook Legal take it down immediately. She put it right back up. My email was private, therefore not libelous, but hers was PUBLIC and also showed extreme malicious intent, both elements of Libel. This time, I did NOT cave to LaRosa's bullying, and on Tuesday, July 13, he and another SLED officer banged on my door to "serve" me with a bogus pseudo-warrant, listing the elements of Harrasment, NONE OF WHICH HAD OCCURRED. In fact, she had not even asked me to stop contacting her, a predicate of SC Harassment, all levels. I was 78, unvaccinated per doctors' orders, had no spleen or immune system, with very serious heart disease, disabled, but he stood there ONE foot from my face READING his entire page, spitting and sputtering in my face, NO masks allowed, for about 15 minutes, until it was done. I had a COVID warning on my door and kept asking him to leave, he refused, kept reading, even though I'd told him during both incidents NOT to come to my home unless he had a legal Warrant and I had a huge No Trespassing sign in my driveway. He didn't have a warrant, nor could one be issued. I escalated my complaint about his bullying and bluffing to SLED Internal Affairs Capt. Mitchell and Chief Keel. By that point, it was clear LaRosa was corruptly in the pocket of the Aiken GOP, since normally a complaint about me would go to the ACSO or civil court. That GOP group clearly had his ear AND him in their pockets and took a shortcut to the state's highest LE agency to try to terrorize me. More Aiken GOP political corruption. I had spent a year and a half only leaving the house 20 minutes once a week to get groceries, with two masks, a face shield, goggles, and gloves, and had felt fine, but the next day I started showing signs of COVID, which got worse over the next few days. I have not felt OK since. (Complaint sent to SLED I.A. Capt. Wayne MItchell, who called me to discuss, and Chief Mark Keel. Written Complaint also filed with Columbia FBI Dir. Susan Ferensic for Larosa's impinging on my right to Free Speech/Civil RIghts, Harassment, Abuse of Authority, Trespassing, and Assault.)
I have an 18-item list of violations and offenses committed against me by local LE since I retired to Aiken in 2002. I'm 78, now disabled, 2 graduate degrees, went to best colleges, Stanford, etc. had a stellar career in Silicon Valley (HP, et al.) and up at Microsoft and had 8 years working for 4 of the best PDs in California before I went into computers. I have NEVER broken a law in my life. Their violations include harassment, bullying, criminal threats, always misreading SC law, hanging up on me when I called in my roof fire, illegal detention, blowing off a school bomb threat, blocking citizen emails, false arrest, and many others and mostly fall under corruption, misogynism, ageism, racism, incompetence, and unethical conduct. I have an abysmal opinion of local law enforcement, and SLED was no better when I forwarded my complaints to them. More whitewashing, corruption, false arrest threats, misogynism, laziness, and sloppiness, political biases, assault at my home, and a general unwillingness to do the job we pay them for. I have therefore now forwarded that list to the FBI, since the only agencies I have any respect for now are all federal. My file/list format is .doc so I can't attach it, but I'll be happy to fwd it to anyone who emails me.
Folks, if you are looking for a change, I'd love to share my message and plans with you. I only ask that you share it with your friends and family. Thanks, Jarrod Goldman
www.facebook.com/goldmanforsheriff
I can prove that Hunt is incompetent, corrupt, unethical, and unqualified. If you complain about the S.O., you get bullied and harrassed indefinitely by S.O. personnel. He stays in office only because the county primary policy (you can't vote in primary if your party doesn't run a candidate) allows any incumbent to become enttrenched, resulting in permanent corruption. Each election, the math entrenches the incumbent more. I've talked to the few who opposed him and he terrorized and made their lives hell. This lunatic (our family calls him "yosemite sam" since he looks like that cartoon, blusters, and is nasty) showed himself to be a knee-jerk fascist when he illegally fired those plain clothes officers for doing what that culture often does. But they got no investigation, no due process, no union support, and worst of all, Hunt is so stupid he forgot all those drug cases those officers closed & their arrests would be subject to retrials and revocation. No wonder the poor Co. Prosecutor quit and left town. This despot will be bullying law-abiding citizens unless he gets voted out of office (or worse).
Yes they do... They will forever try to intimidate you if you take a stand out call em out and as well the same if you make their local buddies mad, and don't try calling sled cause they make the same bed every morning,
The good ole boys will always remain in charge in Aiken county.
Favour for favour.
Hek I'm pretty sure sellers didn't even flaunt his ways of the badge as much as Yosemite Sam.
Very interesting info. provided about each sheriff dating back to sheriff paul grant. as for former sheriff carol heath, one thing he did was to bring the reserve deputy's program to acsd, & I was fortunate enough to have been one of the first to serve in this program. I spent as much time as a reserve as my job would allow, & I thoroughly enjoyed what I learned from the classes, & from each deputy that I rode with. i'm reluctant to elaborate on this topic, but the comments above regarding the sheriffs drinking problem while in office were pretty well known by everyone, and yes, I even witnessed it myself once. but considering the pathetic excuse for a sheriff that aiken co. had after sheriff carol heath, (howard sellers), give me sheriff heath, even with a drinking problem, any day! this man flat out lied to the citizens of aiken, co. about his credentials right from the start. how he was ever re-elected is beyond me... thank god he finally decided to resign and leave aiken co! personally, I think sheriff hunt has, and still is doing an overall excellent job, and provides fair and equal law enforcement protection for all of the citizens of aiken co. which is something we did not have with howard sellers.
Continued from previous post having ended on sheriff paul d grant.
I felt very honored to have worked for and right beside sheriff grant. the first of four sheriff's I would work for in aiken county. during those days there were five patrol cars and seven deputies to each shift. we had our fun, we gladly and proudly did our jobs. sheriff grant with virgil wilkins and o. w. ray seen that we paid for our wrongs and corrected our mistakes. we worked for around $7, 000.00 a year and those were not 40 hour weeks. we worked for pride and the privilege of assisting sheriff grant in fulfilling his sworn duties to aiken county. he's no longer with us however all that worked for this man can remember and wish for the same by simply saying "thank you sheriff"
Ok people it's tuesday, september 27, 2016 and you want someone to run for sheriff against mike hunt. well you got it. "little henry sims". i've known henry since his first day in law enforcement also. at one time henry was a good man to work with. he left aiken county sheriff's office around 1983 to become a state trooper. he reached the rank of lieutenant as a state trooper however he lays his claim to fame as being the assistant chief of batesburg-leesville police department. (lexington county) for some unknown reason henry had to "very suddenly" resign as a state trooper lieutenant. I have no idea why and henry has always refused to talk about it. makes one wonder? henry is not the same henry who left aiken county in 1983. not even close, a total stranger. no pride, no integrity, no education that qualifies him to be sheriff. his largest support base is that of the gunnels klan. want a new sheriff? vote for him. you'll end up with a sheriff's office that is the # child of s. c. worse than batesburg-leesville p. d. and folks that's bad. the only guessing will be who is the father of that # child. gunnels or heath? those who complain about hunt are those who complained from the day before day one of sheriff hunt.
Fixer Upper
You probably worked at the SO about the time my dad ( Leon Hare ) was there. Dad always took pride in his job along with the men and women he worked with including Sheriff Grant.
I've known sheriff hunt since his first day in law enforcement, worked side by side with him although we worked for different agencies we were in regular contact as law enforcement officers. so you think "hunt" is so bad. keeping reading.
Prior to mike hunt aiken county had a former f. b. i. agent (howard sellers) who never accomplished anything other than having more law suits filed against him and aiken county than all the sheriff's prior to him combined. no larger ego in the world than his. most simply called him "pretty boy floyd" or "f b one". thank god he left. left aiken county sheriff's office in a mess but as long as he was gone, no one complained about having to clean up. prior to sellers? "carol heath". nothing more than a common drunk who only had to defeat ralph gunnels to become sheriff. that he did and after that he didn't do anything. never even slowed down on his drinking. I had known heath since I was 12 years old. the most paranoid person I have ever known in my life. as to the day to day operations of the sheriff's office, most were handled by his wife who came to work with him each and every day for eight years. we simply did our jobs and ignored him. not an easy thing to do. I found it amazing what a group of dedicated men could do when they told the sheriff nothing and he didn't have a clue what anyone was doing. prior to heath, "ralph gunnels" if one of us had put that in jail the crime rate in aiken county would have gone down 50 % overnight. ol slick wille... he had his crew across the county and simply placed his order when he wanted something, order stolen, filled, and delivered within 24 hours. the thieves of aiken county had a free pass and run of the county for four years, as long as he got his cut. he didn't even have a g. e. d., and never attended the s. c. criminal justice academy. to do so he would have had to drive right by s l e d headquarters and that crap wasn't going to happen. he didn't have the courage. he would have literally died of dehydration due to the amount of sweet poring from his body as he approached the address. oh well no point in beating an almost dead horse. I hear he's at death's door, I only hope i'm close enough to push his sorry # through that door when it opens. anyway the residents of murphy village "gypsy camp" loved him to death. they brought gifts by the truck load which he gladly accepted. gunnels had lieutenants in the department who could not read or wright beyond their own name and that as all of the above is true.
Ok, enough about him. prior to gunnels we had "sheriff paul d. grant", now there was a sheriff, a man's man. he earned the trust. respect, and loyalty of every man and woman in the department with the exception of gunnels.
I am the youngest daughter of Carrol Heath from his first marriage. I am interested in anything you know about my father, good or bad. I have heard stuff over the years, and I believe there is much to uncover. Please help me.
After reading the majority of the posts & comments on here... I have one relevant question : why doesn't someone, anyone, run against this guy? if any of you really & truly cares about the present & future of this county, not to mention your children, then put your name(s) on the ballot for sheriff next time! one of the more disturbing things i've heard about hunt... is that sometime back, a crackhead from the valley "took" hunt's service weapon, his gun and beat hell out of him! that's our sheriff folks! aiken county needs a sheriff who can & will strike fear in the hearts of these ba*tards! i'll guaran damn tee you... they haven't made the crackhead that could take my gun! what about this meth epidemic that's slowly & surely consuming our county? we pick up the paper & see arrest after arrest of meth users. where are the meth dealers? well they're damn sure not in jail are they! why not sheriff? you arrest all these users... and you can't manage to turn them against their dealers? why not? could it be because they fear their dealers... but not you? a leader leads from the front... not in the rear with the gear! our county needs a sheriff who "walks tall!" well... it's hard for a 5 foot 4 midget to walk tall! so... when a real man finally comes along and puts his name on the ballot against "mikey"... then get off your butts, go to the polls and vote for someone, anyone, who will put the well being of this county and it's honest, hard working citizens ahead of his own petty, greedy, corrupt concerns! how did the likes of him ever get elected in the first place? that's a shame & disgrace on the people of aiken county!