Deputies Search for Man who Threatened Residents

Monica Jones lives at St. Andrews Pointe Apartments with her four children.

But she won't be staying there long.

The 43-year-old said she plans to move out in December when her lease runs out. 

During the past year, a man broke into three apartments at the complex threatening to stab women with a knife if they didn't meet his sexual demands, according to a press release from the Richland County Sheriff's Department. The last invasion happened at 5:15 a.m. on May 23. 

One month since the last incident, some residents, including Jones, said they still feel uneasy because of the break-ins. 

The first invasion happened on Aug. 13, 2010. Jones said she didn't know about that incident when she signed her lease in December 2010. And she certainly didn't know something similar would happen two more times. 

"Had I known, I never would have moved in here," Jones said. 

Community Resident Manager Michell Myers said she is trying to make residents feel safer.

The apartment complex teamed up with Senior Cpl. Norm Fisher from the Richland County Sheriff's Department to hold a neighborhood watch meeting in May. They gave the residents information about self defense classes and window locks, and urged them to call the sheriff's department with any tips, Myers said.  

Jones is also taking measures of her own to make sure her children are safe, she said.

"You have to check on them more often. You have to mind whose apartment they go into," Jones said. 

Cassandra Coleman, 27, also lives at the apartments with her family. 

"It's an okay neighborhood, and they're trying to make it safer," Coleman said, "not just the office, Richland County Sheriff's Department, too."

But Coleman said she plans to move soon, too. Until then, she said she's making sure her windows and doors are locked at night. 

Victims described the man as a black male, about 5-foot-9 and in his late teens or early 20s. If you have any information about the incidents, you should call 1-888-crimesc.