Man Arrested in Three Vehicle Break-Ins

A West Columbia man was being held Tuesday on charges he broke into three vehicles, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said deputies arrested Marcus Damato McCoy, 18, of 2201 Pine Street, West Columbia, on three counts of breaking into a motor vehicle, one count of petit larceny and one count of unlawfully carrying a firearm. 

McCoy was being held on Tuesday evening at the Lexington County Detention Center while awaiting a bond hearing.

Metts said McCoy allegedly broke into three vehicles that all were left unlocked at homes on Castle Drive near West Columbia. The man allegedly stole one firearm and $5 in cash from two of the three motor vehicles early Tuesday morning.

Arrest warrants allege that at about 12:24 a.m. on Tuesday McCoy illegally entered a 1995 Ford F-250 pickup truck, 1995 BMW and 2004 Pontiac Grand Am GT. The suspect allegedly stole a $5 bill from one vehicle, nd a Clerke .22-caliber revolver from a second vehicle.

The owner of the Pontiac Grand Am saw a man, whom deputies later identified as McCoy, inside her vehicle and contacted the Sheriff’s Department to report that the man illegally had entered her vehicle, Metts said. The car owner told deputies that the man had walked to a business on U.S. Highway 1 near the interchange with Interstate 26 in the West Columbia community.

Deputies found the man in a parking lot at the business and identified the man as McCoy, Metts said. Officers found the revolver, which had been reported stolen, in McCoy’s possession and placed McCoy in investigative detention. The .22-caliber revolver was fully loaded, with six rounds of snake shot, Metts said.

Detectives later obtained arrest warrants for McCoy, Metts said. The West Columbia Police Department assisted in the investigation.

Metts asked anyone with information about additional criminal activity involving McCoy to call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.