Assaults South Carolina

A white couple who tied a 9-year-old black boy to a tree and fired a shotgun past his face after accusing him of stealing were sentenced to two years in prison. Benjamin and Betty Mims could be eligible for parole in six to eight months, prosecutors estimated. Dwight Miller, now 10, and his parents called the sentence too lenient. The Mimses, convicted of aggravated assault and battery, could have received up to 10 years.

One of two men accused of grabbing a man by the arm and dragging him alongside their pickup truck told police that he was drunk and couldn't remember much. Eric W. Jones told police he and Arthur Marshall split a 12-pack of beer after work and all he remembers is the truck going into a ditch and then running through the woods, according to a police document reviewed Friday. Charone Green, 23, suffered leg and arm injuries but was not seriously hurt.

A white couple accused of tying a 9-year-old black boy to a tree and beating and choking him to teach him a lesson about stealing were found innocent of lynching and convicted of a lesser assault charge. Benjamin and Betty Mims could get up to 10 years in prison at sentencing Dec. 2 for aggravated assault and battery. Dwight Miller, now 10, accused the Mimses of tying him to a tree last January, beating him, firing a shotgun at him and tying a belt around his neck until he almost passed out.

Ammie Murray noticed the car out of the corner of her eye. There was something odd about it. The car was an aging maroon Pontiac. It was parked on a narrow side road that led off into a swamp along the Congaree River. People used those rutty old roads to go fishing. The odd thing was that the car was full, at a dead stop and facing out. That made her uneasy, but she drove on, at 30 mph or so, over the sand and the washouts that covered Old State Road.

One of two men accused of grabbing a man by the arm and dragging him alongside their pickup truck told police that he was drunk and couldn't remember much. Eric W. Jones told police he and Arthur Marshall split a 12-pack of beer after work and all he remembers is the truck going into a ditch and then running through the woods, according to a police document reviewed Friday. Charone Green, 23, suffered leg and arm injuries but was not seriously hurt.

The half-brother of Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson was arrested in Greenville, S.C., and charged with hiring someone to attack a murder witness, police said Sunday. Noah Robinson, 45, was arrested late Saturday night and charged with being an accessory to a felony, obstruction of justice, intimidating a witness and criminal conspiracy, according to Detective Keith Morton. He was released on bail Sunday night.

Two female Citadel cadets had nail polish poured on them and their clothes set afire not once but three times in hazing incidents in the last two months, their attorneys said Tuesday. One woman, Jeanie Mentavlos, also was ordered to drop her pants so male cadets could remove a concealed tape recorder. She was permitted to go behind a desk to do it, they said.

A pellet gun sniper targeting cars along Interstate 85 struck again Wednesday, in spite of deputies patrolling on the ground and in the air. In 10 days, someone has shot at least 26 cars, most on a mile-long stretch of highway bordered by pine trees, a river, a sewage treatment plant and a television factory. Deputies in camouflage suits are hiding in the trees, and spotters with binoculars are on the high ground along the highway, a major business route between Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta.

The Citadel will post adult supervisors overnight in all barracks starting next month in the wake of allegations that two female cadets were hazed this fall, a school official said. "It's important we restore some order and discipline in the system we have," James Jones, the state military college's board chairman, said in Friday's issue of the State, a Columbia newspaper. The board ordered the new policy, along with a review of the cadet command structure.

Ammie Murray noticed the car out of the corner of her eye. There was something odd about it. The car was an aging maroon Pontiac. It was parked on a narrow side road that led off into a swamp along the Congaree River. People used those rutty old roads to go fishing. The odd thing was that the car was full, at a dead stop and facing out. That made her uneasy, but she drove on, at 30 mph or so, over the sand and the washouts that covered Old State Road.

The Citadel will post adult supervisors overnight in all barracks starting next month in the wake of allegations that two female cadets were hazed this fall, a school official said. "It's important we restore some order and discipline in the system we have," James Jones, the state military college's board chairman, said in Friday's issue of the State, a Columbia newspaper. The board ordered the new policy, along with a review of the cadet command structure.

Two female Citadel cadets had nail polish poured on them and their clothes set afire not once but three times in hazing incidents in the last two months, their attorneys said Tuesday. One woman, Jeanie Mentavlos, also was ordered to drop her pants so male cadets could remove a concealed tape recorder. She was permitted to go behind a desk to do it, they said.

A white couple who tied a 9-year-old black boy to a tree and fired a shotgun past his face after accusing him of stealing were sentenced to two years in prison. Benjamin and Betty Mims could be eligible for parole in six to eight months, prosecutors estimated. Dwight Miller, now 10, and his parents called the sentence too lenient. The Mimses, convicted of aggravated assault and battery, could have received up to 10 years.

A white couple accused of tying a 9-year-old black boy to a tree and beating and choking him to teach him a lesson about stealing were found innocent of lynching and convicted of a lesser assault charge. Benjamin and Betty Mims could get up to 10 years in prison at sentencing Dec. 2 for aggravated assault and battery. Dwight Miller, now 10, accused the Mimses of tying him to a tree last January, beating him, firing a shotgun at him and tying a belt around his neck until he almost passed out.

The FBI opened a civil rights investigation Friday in the case of a 9-year-old black child who said he was tied to a tree, punched, kicked and almost strangled by a white playmate and the playmate's parents. Benjamin Mims, 62, and his wife, Betty, 43, were arrested on state charges of second-degree lynching, or mob violence, a charge that does not require a racial motivation. The offense carries up to 20 years in prison.

A pellet gun sniper targeting cars along Interstate 85 struck again Wednesday, in spite of deputies patrolling on the ground and in the air. In 10 days, someone has shot at least 26 cars, most on a mile-long stretch of highway bordered by pine trees, a river, a sewage treatment plant and a television factory. Deputies in camouflage suits are hiding in the trees, and spotters with binoculars are on the high ground along the highway, a major business route between Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta.

The FBI opened a civil rights investigation Friday in the case of a 9-year-old black child who said he was tied to a tree, punched, kicked and almost strangled by a white playmate and the playmate's parents. Benjamin Mims, 62, and his wife, Betty, 43, were arrested on state charges of second-degree lynching, or mob violence, a charge that does not require a racial motivation. The offense carries up to 20 years in prison.

The half-brother of Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson was arrested in Greenville, S.C., and charged with hiring someone to attack a murder witness, police said Sunday. Noah Robinson, 45, was arrested late Saturday night and charged with being an accessory to a felony, obstruction of justice, intimidating a witness and criminal conspiracy, according to Detective Keith Morton. He was released on bail Sunday night.