EDGEMOOR, SOUTH CAROLINA, Aug. 28 (Nationwide Times) — Three 19-year-olds were arrested in Chester County, South Carolina, after investigators accused them of damaging Flock Safety camera equipment and causing a battery pack to catch fire near homes.
Blaze Fuller, Samuel Carlisle and James Ryerson each face accusations of criminal conspiracy and a property-damage offense. Chester County jail records describe that offense as malicious injury to personal property, while some reports refer to it as destruction of property. The court handling the cases, case numbers and assigned judge were not identified in the available records.
The allegations center on an early-morning incident Aug. 15 along Harmony Church Road in the Edgemoor area, according to the Chester County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators allege that the three men cut or sawed down a camera pole and struck the equipment with a hammer. They allege that the battery pack then exploded and caught fire.
The sheriff’s office estimated the equipment damage at more than $5,000. The available information does not establish whether nearby homes were damaged or evacuated.
What are Flock cameras?
Flock Safety is the company associated with the camera equipment in the case. The available records identify the equipment as Flock camera hardware but do not resolve whether one camera or two cameras were damaged. Reports have differed on that point.
The allegations describe damage to both the camera installation and its power equipment. The precise cause of the fire has not been independently established in the available records beyond the investigators’ account that the battery pack exploded after being struck.
What happened after the arrests?
Chester County jail records show that Fuller, Carlisle and Ryerson were booked Aug. 18 and released Aug. 19. Fuller posted a $5,000 bond. The available records do not provide separate bond information for Carlisle or Ryerson.
An arrest or criminal charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt. The available material does not include a defense statement, a prosecutor’s statement, a plea, a hearing date or a final court disposition.
