An F/A-18 D two seat Hornet crashed into the Atlantic Wednesday, approximately 35 miles off the coast of Beaufort.  The pilot and the weapons systems  officer, members of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224, ejected safely.

The aircraft apparently experienced the failure of both engines at around 5:30 pm forcing both crewmen to eject. The plane crashed into the Atlantic far from any populated areas. MCAS Beaufort, with the assistance of the Coast Guard, will conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash.

The two crewmen were rescued by a Coast Guard Search and Rescue team from Charleston, about an hour after bailing out. They were flown back to MCAS Beaufort where they were to undergo a thorough medical examination. Their identities have not been released.

Beaufort County Sheriff’s authorities conducted a manhunt in the area of Shanklin Rd and Stanley Farm Rd on Wednesday afternoon.

Just before 12:00 PM, two black males were seen near the railroad tracks, carrying large flat screen televisions, in the area of Laurel Bay and Westgate Cir. The suspects, who were spotted by a deputy patrolling the area,  fled upon being ordered to stop. The televisions, recovered during the search, were reported stolen from a Westgate Cir home.

A perimeter was established in the immediate area and the Sheriff’s Office K-9 Tracking Team conducted  a thorough ground search for the suspects.  After yielding no results, search efforts were suspended and the perimeter dissolved at approximately 3 pm.

The investigation into the burglary at 36 Westgate Circle will remain active. The two suspects, who remain at large, were described only as tall, slender black males.

The Beaufort woman wanted on outstanding warrants for Financial Identity Fraud has been arrested.

Twenty-four year old Latoya Shernell Haley (a.k.a. Veronica D. Haley) was arrested just after 7:00 pm, March 9th, at the bus station in Beaufort after deputies received an anonymous tip that she was attempting to flee the area, and could be found at that location. Deputies responded to the bus station and were waiting when she was dropped off by an unknown subject. Haley was taken into custody without incident and transported to the BeaufortCountyDetentionCenter where she currently remains.

Haley was recently arrested February 23rd on similar charges after she reportedly stole and used a credit card and also fraudulently applied for and used another credit card in the name of a 74-year old Hilton Head woman for whom she was providing in-home nursing care.

During the course of that investigation, it was discovered that between September 2009 and January 2010, Haley had victimized two additional elderly patients. It was determined that Haley was using fraudulent financial accounts established under the names of a 72-year old Hilton Head woman and her 67-year old husband, for whom she was caring, to pay bills she generated using the identity of the first victim.

In each case, Haley is suspected of fraudulently obtaining more than $1,000 using the identities of her victims. And in each incident, the victim was elderly, sick, and on substantial medication. While Haley does possess a valid nurse’s aide certification, she was not currently employed by any health care provider, during the times she cared for these victims.

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

The Technical College of the Lowcountry’s PILAU program will host a special lecture from best-selling author Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 17 in the MacLean Hall Auditorium, Beaufort Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Dyson is a Princeton graduate and holds a Ph.D. in Religion. As well as being an author, he is an ordained Baptist minister, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University, and he hosts his own radio show.

Dyson will present a lecture titled “The Survival Guide for Black Men in America.” A popular lecturer , Dyson bridges gaps between generations, connecting civil rights identity to hip-hop culture while forging links between older and younger Americans. Dyson is the author of “April 4, 1968,” “Making Malcolm X,” “I May Not Get There with You,” “Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye,” “Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost its Mind?,” and more.

Dyson’s visit is sponsored by TCL’s PILAU program as part of its “Inspire Lecture Series.” Other presenters have included accomplished author Clifton Taulbert , talented playwright Pearl Cleage, celebrity Judge Glenda Hatchett, and Chauncey Mayfield, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mayfield Gentry Realty Advisors LLC.

For more information, please contact  Alicia Coleman at acoleman@tcl.edu or 843.470.6044.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the success of Saturday’s “Medicine Cabinet Clean-Out” event.

From 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, deputies were onsite at the Bluffton Public Works facility on Benton Field Rd to collect any old and/or unwanted medications for appropriate disposal. Many citizens took advantage of this event, with approximately 1,300 units (unit=1 pill bottle/container) of prescription medications and approximately 800 units of over-the-counter medications being collected.

The purpose of this event was to reach out to the citizens of BeaufortCounty with expired or leftover medicines (including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and herbal supplements) in their homes, and provide them the opportunity to have these materials safely disposed of. Keeping expired and leftover medication in the home can lead to unintentional poisonings, especially in young children and older adults. Also a concern is that the improper disposal of medication can lead to soil and water contamination.

As an amnesty event, participants were allowed to surrender any medications without prosecution or repercussion.

Due to the extraordinary public interest, additional dates and locations have been added to this event:

• Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm at the BeaufortCounty Sheriff’s Office Hilton Head substation (7 Lagoon Rd).
• Saturday, May 1, 2010 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Public Works department (142 Shanklin Rd) in Burton.

As a reminder for upcoming events: liquid medications, syringes, lancets, and/or any medical waste WILL NOT be accepted for disposal.

The Sheriff’s Office also would like to extend its appreciation to the following agencies for their participation and continued support in these events:

• Beaufort County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Department
• Life Fit Community Health
• SC Department of Health and Environmental Control
• Beaufort Naval Hospital Pharmacy
• Beaufort Fire Department
• Beaufort-Jasper Water Sewer Authority
• Bi-Lo Pharmacy
• BeaufortCounty Solid Waste and Recycling
• BeaufortCountyParks and Leisure Services
• Hilton Head Public Service District