Across South Carolina

Jail officer charged in drug delivery

GEORGETOWN - An officer at the Georgetown County jail faces drug charges after agreeing to deliver drugs to an inmate, according to the Georgetown Organized Crime Bureau.

Thomas Polak, 23, has been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and misconduct in office after a monthlong investigation, the bureau said.

Agents began looking into Mr. Polak after receiving a tip from someone inside the jail, bureau Lt. Kelvin Waites said.

An undercover officer met with Mr. Polak on Friday, and the jail officer agreed to bring cocaine and marijuana to a specific inmate for $100, the bureau said.

Plant explosion causes $1 million in damages

FORT MILL - An explosion at a pharmaceutical plant early Tuesday injured two people and caused more than $1 million in damage, said David Jennings, Flint Hill Volunteer Fire Department chief.

A flash fire at Leiner Health Products blew out a wall and damaged a mixer that was making drug products, Chief Jennings said.

One employee had facial burns and was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Pineville, he said. The condition of the other person was not immediately known.

The mixer, which was being used to prepare pain medication, had about $800,000 in damage while the building had about $300,000 in damage, Chief Jennings said.

Man is shot to death while raking his yard

BEAUFORT - A Point South man raking his front yard has been shot to death after a neighborhood confrontation, Jasper County deputies say.

Arthur Lee Greene, 46, was shot three times in the chest by a man whom he had scolded earlier for talking inappropriately to neighborhood children, Chief Deputy Roy Hughes said.

The man initially apologized and left, but came back a short time later with a gun and killed Mr. Greene in front of several people, Chief Deputy Hughes said. Deputies have charged John Brown, 24, with murder, but he has not been caught, Chief Deputy Hughes said.

- Edited from wire reports