‘Crime of opportunity’: Some Beaufort Co. charges get a boost during state of emergency
UPDATE: On April 22, 2021, Yonatan Diaz-Moreno pleaded guilty to petit larceny and burglary in the third degree. His charge of looting during a state of emergency was dismissed. A spokesperson for the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said Diaz-Moreno was sentenced to one year of probation under the Youthful Offender Act. Diaz-Moreno spent over a year incarcerated in the Beaufort County Detention Center awaiting disposition.
While arrests in Beaufort County have seen a slight drop as more residents stay inside, some criminals are trying to take advantage of the coronavirus lock down and are paying the price for it.
That price comes in the form of an extra charge on top of the one connected to the specific crime alleged. That extra charge falls under “illegal acts under a state of emergency,” a misdemeanor which carries a fine and/or up to 30 days in jail.
The charge can be beefed up to a felony, if an individual is charged with “looting” while under a state of emergency.
The designation was recently applied after a failed burglary attempt of the Skull Creek Boathouse restaurant on Hilton Head Island, which has been shuttered since mid-March.
At approximately 11 p.m. on Thursday night, Yonatan Diaz-Moreno, 22, allegedly smashed the window of the restaurant’s gift shop to get inside. He then stole clothing, plastic beer cups and Chapstick from the gift shop and electric fans from the Boathouse’s outdoor area, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bob Bromage.
Diaz-Moreno had set off the burglary alarm, and he was arrested near the restaurant a short time after 11 p.m., according to authorities.
Diaz-Moreno was then charged with petit larceny, burglary to the second degree, and faces a potential felony for looting under a state of emergency, according to Beaufort County Detention Center jail logs.
“It’s a crime of opportunity,” said Bromage.
“As we’re urging people to stay home to curb spread of coronavirus, Beaufort County residents can expect us to protect their properties, including businesses. These crimes are being taken very seriously,” he said.
Bromage said the “illegal acts” charge is being applied “appropriately” and works against criminals who seek to take advantage of the coronavirus situation.
The felony for looting is the strongest charge one could receive for the state of emergency designations. Upon conviction, the defendant “must be fined or imprisoned, or both, in the discretion of the court,” according to state law.
The designation only comes into effect when there is a state of emergency in place, which has typically only happened in South Carolina during natural disasters like hurricanes.
A Hilton Head gym, however, was cited last week under the same law. The owner of Breakthrough Fitness was hit with a citation amounting to a $100 fine or up to 30 days in jail after he allowed people to continue working out in the gym even though the state had ordered non-essential businesses closed.
“Crime of opportunity”
In the early hours of March 25, security camera footage from Hilton Head’s Bargain Box thrift shop at 546 William Hilton Parkway showed a man stealing five trash bags worth of donations from an outdoor donation box, according to a sheriff’s office report.
The store had been closed since March 16 but was still accepting donations. The suspect, Ryan McAvoy, took at least $250 worth of donated items, the report said.
A sheriff deputy interviewed McAvoy after following him to the island’s Goodwill store at 91 Mathews Drive after he left Bargain Box. The deputy later contacted the owner of Bargain Box to ask to review camera footage that showed McAvoy stealing from the donation box, according to the report.
Such actions would fall under looting section of the state of emergency law.
What other crimes fit the bill?
A day before donations from the Bargain Box were stolen, an employee of Super Baked Pizza on Hilton Head was robbed at gunpoint when delivering a pizza, according to a sheriff’s office report.
The employee was sent to deliver the food to a home on Alfred Lane. Unable to find the home, the employee called the man who placed the order. The unidentified man answered, saying he would be in a black and yellow hoodie and would meet the driver outside, said the report.
The sheriff’s office says after the man met the pizza employee by his car , he immediately asked for change. The employee told sheriff deputies the man then pointed a “small, black, [sic] semi automatic handgun” at his face and demanded cash and personal items.
“[T]he suspect had taken $150 from him, $36 of it belonging to the Super Baked Pizza shop the remaining $144” belonging to the employee, according to the report.
The suspect remains at large so it’s not clear what he would be charged with. Armed robbery earns offenders in South Carolina a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of up to 30 years in prison, according to state law.
While the crime is a type of “looting” and fits the criteria for a crime under a state of emergency, attorney Jim Brown said in his experience as a criminal defense lawyer, law enforcement would not usually risk adding a misdemeanor to a violent crime like burglary.
“They’re going to go with the A-list charge,” said Brown.
“If there’s an added component for less time, that requires extra proof and would only get them a lower charge, they’d consider it counter-productive,” Brown said. “You’d have to prove more to get less.”
Brown said the point of the crimes under a state of emergency charge is to beef up penalties for lower crimes to disincentivize crime.
When charging someone during a pandemic or a hurricane, law enforcement will look to see “if someone is trying to take advantage of an emergency situation,” said Brown.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 2:09 PM.
