Charleston County deputies seized enough illicit fentanyl from a West Ashley apartment to kill every person in Charleston and Colleton counties, and more, according to Sheriff Kristin Graziano.

“This single seizure of fentanyl, this 2½ pounds, is enough fentanyl to provide a lethal dose to every person in the city and county of Charleston, and Colleton County, and add another 50,000 people to that,” she said at a press conference April 24, five days after the drug bust. The two counties have a combined population of about 500,000 people. “That’s how big the seizure was. And that’s how important this is to this community.”

The synthetic opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin, and just 2 milligrams is considered a lethal dose. Fentanyl accounted for more than two-thirds of all fatal overdoses in 2021, killing nearly 1,500 people statewide, according to the latest data from the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

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That year in Charleston County alone, 183 people fatally overdosed, according to Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal, who joined Graziano and other local leaders for the announcement.

“In 2022, that number skyrocketed to 240. We are on target for 2023 to beat that number again, which is not something we should be proud of,” O’Neal said. “One thing I would say is that there is hope.”

She held up a red bag containing Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse the affects of an opioid overdose. The Coroner’s Office and the jail provide the overdose antidote “no questions asked,” the sheriff and coroner said. Both leaders also championed drug treatment and recovery services available through the Charleston Center and nonprofit Wake Up Carolina.

“Our country is in the midst of a public health, public safety crisis involving opioid addiction. I think that is not new to folks. But I think you need to realize that Charleston is not immune. We’re not immune to this crisis,” Graziano said. “This operation that was uncovered by law enforcement is a clear sign that we are clearly not immune to this.”

On April 19, deputies were attempting to arrest a man who had failed to appear in court for a 2019 case, when they found what Graziano described as “a significant drug-trafficking operation” in the apartment off Folly Road Boulevard where he had been staying. The man had fled — deputies believe he had jumped from a fourth-floor balcony to elude capture — but returned to the apartment complex later that day and was arrested.

Meanwhile, a search of the apartment netted the powdered fentanyl, about 2¾ pounds of marijuana, 682 Xanax pills, two pill presses, an AK-style rifle and two handguns. On the man, deputies found $7,700 in cash.

It marks the largest seizure of the deadly drug by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office to date.

Tyrell Javon Sistrunk faces two charges for drug distribution, a trafficking charge, and three gun offenses based on the search.

Sistrunk was initially arrest on June 3, 2019, after leading deputies in a car chase through North Charleston. In the car, which Sistrunk abandoned to flee on foot, authorities found a child, cocaine and a pistol. Once deputies caught up to Sistrunk, he resisted arrest, elbowing one in the face, according to arrest warrant affidavits.

At that time, Sistrunk was charged with child endangerment, assaulting an officer, distribution of cocaine and a weapons offense.

On June 5, 2019, he posted $65,000 bail and was released. On March 2, a circuit judge issued bench warrants when Sistrunk failed to appear in court, prompting the deputies to search the West Ashley apartment where he was apparently living under an alias.

He is currently being held in the Charleston County jail.

To hear some elected (and would-be elected) officials tell it, the wishes of Charleston’s West Ashley residents with regard to the city-owned “Dead Pig” site on Sumar Street are as unknown, and perhaps unknowable, as the deepest mysteries of quantum physics, or the final fate of the Lost Colony in Roanoke, Virginia.

But that’s not really true.

Because in 2018, as part of the largest single-site public-input process in city history, nearly 1,000 of our residents took time out of their lives to tell us exactly what they want for this critical West Ashley gateway. And contrary to some recent election-year proposals, it wasn’t a Texas Donut-style site design with big buildings around an above-ground parking garage. Or, even worse, an irresponsible resale of the property to a private developer with unknown intentions for the site.

Instead, what they asked for was a sensible, suburban-scale redevelopment that felt right for West Ashley, including restaurant, retail and office space, a family-friendly park area and a new civic building with city offices and public meeting rooms for our citizens. Something not unlike the Pacific Box and Crate site on Upper King Street, but with a distinctive West Ashley sensibility.

And that’s exactly what our development partner, Landmark Enterprises, has designed and submitted to our Planning Department, with a total city cost of $45 million, or approximately half of the city’s investment in the 2012 Gaillard Center redevelopment project downtown.

Which now raises two basic questions for City Council and our citizens: One, does the site plan as presented make sense? And two, can we really afford this kind of investment in West Ashley’s revitalization?

From my perspective — as both a West Ashley resident and mayor of the city of Charleston — the clear answer to both those questions is yes. In a nutshell, here’s why.

The Landmark proposal is not only consistent with the public input we received from West Ashley residents in 2018, it’s essentially spot on, with restaurant and retail, a civic building, park space and all the rest. And while I know that some have raised concerns about the decision to include underground parking, I also know that there’s probably no other way to meet our citizens’ high expectations for this project.

After all, there’s only so much space on the site, and if a significant percentage of it has to be used for above-ground parking, we’re necessarily going to wind up with one of three things: a large surface parking lot instead of needed amenities such as park space or retail; first-floor parking that pushes building heights up to four or more stories; or a Texas Donut design with a tall garage in the middle. (To assist in our deliberations, Landmark is modeling these alternatives, and it should have something for our citizens and council members to review in the next week or so.)

As to whether we can afford this kind of investment in West Ashley revitalization, I’d note that more than half our residents call this part of our city home, and that they’ve been very patient and supportive over the years as other areas have benefited from major projects. Now, it’s West Ashley’s turn.

Moreover, the redevelopment, like most efforts of its kind, is being financed completely outside of the city’s general budget, using parking revenues and a special West Ashley revitalization fund that we established for just this purpose. Put simply, we can afford to do this project right — and West Ashley is more than worth the investment.

Like Charleston Place a generation ago, this transformative economic and quality-of-life revitalization project has been years in the making, and it’s critical for our city’s future.

Our job now, as city officials, is to keep listening to our residents, and to do everything in our power to ensure that this signature city project meets their high expectations.

John Tecklenburg is mayor of Charleston and faces six challengers in his bid for reelection this year.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) will close southbound lanes on the West Ashley Bridge overnight beginning May 10.

All lanes going from Downtown to West Ashley will close nightly from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. as crews complete construction work.

Traffic will be detoured.

The work is expected to take one to two weeks.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Shane Melton, who lives in West Ashley, received a big surprise during what should have been a routine visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023|Updated: Mon Mar 27 2023

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Shane Melton, who lives in West Ashley, received a big surprise during what should have been a routine visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Melton learned he is a dead man walking.

“There’s just nothing I can do,” he says.

The Social Security Administration incorrectly declared him dead, he says. He discovered this when he went to renew his driver’s license. Instead, he was shuffled into a back room and was accused of impersonating a dead man and stealing his identity, Melton says.

“They started interrogating me saying I was deceased and told me they’re going to call the cops on me,” he says. “They confiscated my ID, so I left.”

Melton says this initially didn’t seem like a major issue, but then he was laid off from his job.

“This has upended our entire lives,” his wife, Morgan Key, says.

Because the government considers him dead, Melton says companies won’t hire him. The family even had to move in with his parents to cut costs.

“He’s done interviews, job interviews, and everything,” Key says. “He’s doing everything that he can to get that job but they just can’t hire him legally.”

Being incorrectly declared dead can cause a lengthy list of problems, according to attorney Mark Bringardner.

“That’s going to prevent you from being able to take out a loan, apply for a job, pass any sort of background check, and your credit score will instantly go to zero,” he says. “So, that will present a whole host of challenges that can’t be fixed overnight and will take several months, if not longer, to fix between submitting the paperwork to the social security administration, as well as the credit score company to restore your credit.”

This issue is not uncommon, Bringardner says.

“It’s estimated this happens between 6,000 to 12,000 times a year or more, so that’s roughly 20 to 30 people a day,” he says. “Usually that occurs because of a clerical error at the Social Security Administration office, a hospital, a doctor’s office, or somebody filling out a form incorrectly and checking the wrong box.”

Catching and correcting the problem quickly is key, Bringardner says.

“Anyone who’s been wrongfully declared dead by the social security administration should contact them immediately and try to submit the paperwork,” he says.

But Melton says he’s gone to the social security office three times with various paperwork. He says the issue is the items the Social Security Administration can use to prove he’s alive either require a valid ID to obtain, like a passport or certified medical records, or only apply to certain people, such as military records or a church membership.

Melton says he doesn’t have an ID, any of the other documents or a path forward—leaving him frustrated and trying to fix what seems like an unfixable mistake he didn’t make.

“It can happen to anybody,” he says. “I never thought it would happen to me until I go to the DMV one day and boom, I’m dead. There’s nothing I can do about it. I didn’t cause the problem and they’re pretty much making me fix the problem when it’s impossible fix.”

The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment.

Some additional advice from Bringardner: make sure you’re periodically checking your credit report to ensure this same mistake hasn’t happened to you. If it does, be prepared to involve a lawyer to help sort things out, especially your credit.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

As a long-awaited redevelopment plan for a former Piggly Wiggly site in West Ashley reaches its final stages, Charleston City Councilman Peter Shahid is hosting a public meeting April 29 to answer questions about what happens next.

The city of Charleston owns and plans to redevelop the property — now a 2.2-acre slab of pavement. The city purchased the site, at the intersection of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and Old Towne Road, for $3 million in 2017 and demolished the store the next year.

Since then the city has engaged in a lengthy process to gather public input and work with private developer and architect to design plans for the site that include a mix of civic, commercial and office space.

When a newly revealed $45 million price tag for the city’s portion of the redevelopment plan landed on City Council members’ desks this month, they voted to extend their contract with the developer, Landmark Enterprises, for another 60 days. Doing so will give them an opportunity to return to council with a revised and less costly proposal.

“While I am not pleased with the current 60-day extension, the developer needs time to revisit options consistent with what was laid out years ago. I will continue to collaborate with Landmark to ensure a first-class project befitting the citizens of Charleston,” Shahid wrote in a Post and Courier commentary about the project April 25.

As City Council awaits the revised proposal, Shahid is seeking to answer questions from area residents and update them on what to expect in the months and years to come.

Residents will also get a chance to learn more details about a separate redevelopment project on the adjacent Ashley Landing property. There, Charlotte-based developer Faison plans to relocate the current Publix on the opposite end of the property and build an apartment complex in its place. Unlike the Piggly Wiggly project, the Ashley Landing project will be entirely led by the private sector.

Shahid’s meeting will be held at 10 a.m. April 29 in the administrative building at Charlestowne Landing, 1500 Old Towne Road.

Shahid represents District 9, which includes parts of West Ashley surrounding the Piggly Wiggly site and Ashley Landing. He also is a candidate for mayor of Charleston.