Criminal Defense Lawyer in Ladson, SC

LADSON — Dorchester County has unveiled the first of the new fire and EMS stations they have planned.

County Administrator Jason Ward said the Ladson station, which opened July 11, will be a model for future stations.

The new technology the county has implemented is PURVIS, a dispatch system that streamlines operations by electronically sending calls through an automated voice to only a number of stations that need to be alerted to a situation. This will allow dispatchers to move on to the next call, and the system also evaluates how many engines are needed to help.

The Ladson station will be the first to use PURVIS. Mario Formisano, deputy administrator for public safety, and Dorchester County Fire Chief Tres Atkinson said all the other stations in the county have PURVIS as well and will start to use it shortly after the Ladson station.

This new station will hold up to 12 people, and has three bays, which can hold up to six vehicles between fire and EMS, according to Formisano.

The $3.3 million station was funded through the Oakbrook Tax Increment Financing District. Ward emphasized how the station is a partnership between Dorchester County, the Town of Summerville and Dorchester School District Two.

“This is one of our flagship projects,” Ward said. “Public safety is one of our primary functions.”

Formisano said part of the reason they needed a new station was because the old station — which was constructed in the 1970s — didn’t face the road. Ward added the building was just starting to show its age, and some parts of it couldn’t be utilized.

Atkinson said the old station had been remodeled several times since its construction, and the firefighters stationed there consistently dealt with maintenance issues.

The county is planning on building two more stations, according to Formisano. He said one is on track to open in the Summers Corner area around November 2024. Ward said the Summers Corner station will be similar to the Ladson station but will have two bays instead of three.

There are also plans to build a new Jedburg station to replace the one on Highway 78, but Formisano said the county is currently looking for property to build the station.

There are already opportunities for the Ladson station to expand. Ward said the Coast Guard is looking to have better access to the Ashley River in Dorchester County for water rescue. One option the county and town are looking at in collaboration with the Coast Guard and a legislative delegation is to add another bay to the Ladson station specifically for the Coast Guard’s use.

Atkinson said getting a new station is a morale boost for the personnel.

“Anytime you get new equipment and new living areas, or something new, that does a lot for our departments,” Atkinson said.

A 3-year-old vanished from an apartment complex before being found at the bottom of a retention pond, South Carolina officials said.

The toddler was pulled from the water with “no signs of life” and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Dorchester County sheriff’s and coroner’s offices.

The child was identified in a news release as John Tyheem Williams Jr.

Deputies said they responded to a report of a missing toddler at about noon on Friday, Sept. 8. The child was last seen at an apartment complex in the Ladson area, roughly 20 miles northwest of Charleston.

A deputy reported that someone found an iPod in a retention pond that might have belonged to the 3-year-old. Then, the sheriff’s office started working with other agencies to search the water for the missing child, according to an incident report.

At about 1 p.m., a diver found the child “approximately 15-20 feet from the bank in about 10-12 feet of water.” The toddler’s body was taken to the coroner’s office, where an autopsy was scheduled, according to officials.

Deputies in a Sept. 8 email said they were investigating the child’s apparent drowning death along with the coroner’s office and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.

At least 4,000 people die from drowning every year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and drowning is a leading cause of death for children.

Some factors can make drowning more likely, including not knowing how to swim, a lack of close supervision, not wearing a life jacket and drinking alcohol while recreating near or in water.

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance said there are tips to help keep you safe in the water, including checking local weather conditions, never swimming alone and choosing the right equipment.

“Don’t hesitate to get out of the water if something doesn’t feel right,” the group said on its website. “Whether it’s that the current is getting rough, rain has started to fall, or your body is just not responding like you would like it to due to fatigue or muscle cramps, then just leave and return to the water another day. It’s always a good thing to trust your instincts.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2023, 9:12 AM.

LADSON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments held a public open house Tuesday in Ladson to provide new updates and hear from members of the community on the Lowcountry Rapid Transit.

Located at the Lowcountry Rapid Transit lines end, the new location for the proposed park and ride will be at the Exchange Park Fairgrounds in Ladson.

The more than 21-mile transit plan is to connect downtown Charleston to the Exchange Park Fairgrounds, where parking for 280 cars will be available.

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments says the location of the park and ride system will be a quick and convenient station for those traveling from surrounding areas to downtown.

“This park and ride will continue to be a critical piece, whether this was the middle line will continue to Summerville or even beyond, folks will still have to drive to this location and park to get on the dedicated guideway,” Lowcountry Rapid Transit Project Manager, Sharon Hollis, says. “But we can get them off of Highway 26, and onto the system to perhaps maybe alleviate some congestion that way.”

The park and ride location was adjusted from the northern end line of downtown Summerville to Exchange Park.

With transit lines ending in Ladson in the current plan, some community members are asking for the routes to be extended to Summerville.

“This needs to go all the way to Summerville, this system has to work,” Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit Executive Director, William Hamilton, says. “There are 300,000 or 400,000 more people coming to our area, there is no possible way, nor is there anything close to the funds necessary to build the necessary roads.

“Congestion will become intolerable unless there are significant efforts made to take some of the burden off of the road system,” he adds.

Hollis says a lot of factors would play into an extension, including funding and demand from those in the area who would use it.

“As we start to build, transit demand from Summerville to this location, we’ll start to have the ability to do that more permanent infrastructure to put the buses and dedicated lane,” she says. “It’s a step process, and we’re just we’re a little further behind than that one.”

Back in March, the Lowcountry Rapid Transit System Project was awarded $100 million in President Biden’s 2024 budget.

“This is the very core of our community; this should remove some of the burden that is on our existing roads, but people need to understand this does not mean that the congestion we have now will disappear,” Hamilton says.

The requested federal funding represents 60% of the project cost, or about $375 million. The anticipated local funding from Charleston County represents 40% of the project cost, or about $250 million.

The Lowcountry Rapid Transit is currently at the halfway mark of the 12-year process with construction expected to begin in 2026.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - More than six months after a woman was crushed to death at a Ladson business, officials with the South Carolina Occupation Safety and Health Administration have shared their investigative findings on what they believe the business failed to do.

Jessica Birkmire, 53, died at Pegasus Steel in Ladson on Jan. 12 after a large, steel door closed on her, crushing her arm and head, according to the Charleston County Coroner.

OSHA’s investigative report says Birkmire was preparing to unload materials at a large bay door when she reached through a small gap to click the ‘open’ button. She instead clicked the ‘close’ button, and the door shut on Birkmire.

OSHA details how Pegasus Steel did not conduct a ‘job hazard analysis,’ and despite making references to these job inspections, they provided no documentation to prove these risk assessments had been completed.

They say their inspection revealed conditions they believe to be in violation of state health and safety laws, specifically Code 41-15-210, which states “each employer shall furnish to his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”

The report states this is a ‘serious’ violation.

OSHA’s report goes on to say there is, however, a memo from management sent out last summer that explains how employees were not authorized to walk through the bay doors, according to the report. During investigative interviews, OSHA found employees were routinely walking through these doors, and the report states no disciplinary action was taken.

The Chief Human Resources Officer for Pegasus Steel said in an interview with OSHA officials that Birkmire broke safety codes at the business when she reached through the bay door. The report also details how Birkmire was “headstrong” and that management had told her in the past to “not place her body in places that can hurt her.”

OSHA says the company also should have had sensors in place to detect objects in the door’s path.

OSHA provided Pegasus Steel with tips on how to keep the door from closing on people again including installing sensors. The business is also now ordered to pay a penalty of $3,500.

Officials said in the report they’re currently working on relocating those control buttons that Birkmire pushed. The business did not respond to a request for comment.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A 336-unit multifamily housing complex in Ladson called Broadstone Ingleside sold for $77.5 million, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm that arranged the deal.

Cushman & Wakefield’s John Phoenix, Louis Smart and Austin Green represented the seller in the transaction. The multifamily community was acquired by a joint venture between affiliates of Abacus Capital and Westbrook Partners, according to a Cushman & Wakefield news release.

"Broadstone Ingleside is a best-in-class garden asset built by one of the most prolific developers in the nation,” Smart, director at Cushman & Wakefield, said in the news release. “This deal is in the absolute bullseye for job growth and in-migration in Charleston — one of the fastest growing and most sought-after markets we cover.”

Broadstone Ingleside is a desirable property because it is positioned in a rapidly expanding North Charleston submarket just off Interstate 26, located near several big-name corporations, the news release said.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Sunbelt Multifamily Advisory Group is a 109-person investment sales team covering 11 states. The group closed $11.1 billion in sales volume through 360 deals and more than 60,300 units.

Hot Properties highlights recently sold or leased commercial properties in the Charleston region. Send in your transactions using our online form. Other recent commercial real estate transactions include:

Brent Case and Jing “Julia” Donovan of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the landlord, Windsor Hill Flex LLC, in the lease of retail/flex/office space at Suite 4 at 8210 Windsor Hill Blvd. in North Charleston. Hannah Kamba of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the tenant, La Hacienda of West Ashley LLC.

Kristen Krause of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the seller in the sale of 2,500 square feet on 1.29 acres of commercial redevelopment property at 1905 Old Trolley Road in Summerville for $1.5 million. Michael Silverman of TSCG represented the buyer.

Jing “Julia” Donovan of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the tenant, Poke Cafe Tanger Outlet LLC, in the lease of retail space at Tanger Outlet in North Charleston from Masison Plaza LLC. Chase Development Company represented the landlord.

Markus Kastenholz and Remington Beatty of Colliers South Carolina represented the buyer, Triple B Capital LLC, in the sale of retail space at 2400 Gap Road in North Charleston for $2,000,000.

Robert Pratt of Re/Max Pro Realty represented the buyer, RLP LLC and Tricom Associates LLC, in the sale of 10,880 square feet of retail space at 10599 Dorchester Road in Summerville from PRED Pharmacy-Summerville LLC for $1,850,000. Joel Cukier of Ascension Advisory represented the seller.

Patrick Nealon of Colliers South Carolina represented the seller, Arbys Properties LLC, in the sale of 2,600 square feet of retail space at 6124 Rivers Ave. in North Charleston to Abrahim Dabit.