A Charleston
The incident happened while Charleston Police Department officers were assisting the Charleston Building Commission Thursday with an investigation at an apartment on Jackson Street
The agencies were responding to a complaint from the Mayor’s Office of the property not meeting city housing standards.
Charleston Police Department Lt. Shawn Williams said the residence had a history for drug and prostitution problems.
“We did some research before we went and we found over the past couple years there had been over a thousand police calls for service at this particular place, so we knew this was basically a thorn in the side of not only the police but in the city in general,” said Lt. Williams.
The building inspectors were in the process of writing a citation when the property owner Timothy Harold Stone, 44, of Charleston
According to Lt. Williams, that’s when things got out of hand.
“I was simply trying to calm him down and explain the situation to him and at some point he did push me in the chest and brandished a screwdriver out of his pocket in an aggressive manner,” said Lt. Williams. “It was at that point he was thrown to the ground by several officers who assisted in handcuffing him and placed him under arrest.”
Stone was taken into custody and charged with battery on a police officer, brandishing a weapon and carrying a concealed weapon.
The building inspectors condemned the property as a result of infestation of parasitic insects, no primary source of heat and various fire hazard violations.
Lt. Williams said there was not good living arrangements inside the structure.
“He had basically taken a house and divided it up into seven different, he referred to them as sleeping rooms, and he charged these people a large amount of money for monthly rent for nothing short of just a room,” said Lt. Williams.
Approximately 15-20 residents lived inside the structure and the commission is currently working to find other living arrangements for those affected.
