Only 4 outstanding arrests remain for Operation Red Harvest

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) Operation Red Harvest has netted another arrest, taking the total to 32 bookings, and only four arrests outstanding.

Sgt. Robert Kegler with Horry County Police says 42-year-old Joshua Joseph of Rockford, IL, turned himself into authorities in Horry County Thursday.

Johnson was wanted on warrants for third-degree assault and battery, criminal conspiracy, criminal conspiracy to distribute marijuana and manufacturing marijuana. The charges are in relation to Operation Red Harvest.

Operation Red Harvest is the joint investigation by the Horry County Police Department and multiple other agencies, has racked up three more arrests.

Horry County Police Chief Saundra Rhodes said 15 of 34 arrests were made after 11 search warrants were served across Horry County and in one Georgetown County location during a press conference the afternoon of April 30. Those arrested include the president, secretary/treasurer and prospects of the local Hells Angels Chapter, a worldwide motorcycle club, and a member of the Red Devils.

Rhodes continued that the execution of search warrants beginning at 7:15 a.m. that Monday was part of an operation that began in December of 2010, and was continuing in the south precinct of Horry County.

Those arrested face charges including possession, manufacture and distribution of marijuana, assault and battery, assault and battery by mob, kidnapping, accessory to kidnapping, threatening a witness, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, among other charges.

A bond hearing was held the following morning, May1, for members of the Hells Angels group arrested in Monday's "operation" conducted throughout the county.

Of the 34 individuals sought after the 226 indictments were sealed and handed down by a Grand Jury, these 15 individuals were arrested as of Monday's press conference, followed the bond grants by Judge Steven John:

• Thomas Allen Doucette, Sr. - given $200,000 bond
• Scott Richard Rowan - given $100,000 surety bond
• Jeffrey Carl Lozier - given $150,000 surety bond
• Melanie Ann Doucette - given $150,000 surety bond
• Patrick John Baker - given $100,000 bond
• Ellis Howard Schindler - given $200,000 surety bond
• Ashley Nicole Martin - given $30,000 bond
• Thomas Allen Doucette, Jr. - given $50,620 bond
• Jacob Pierce Austin - given $75,000 surety bond
• Jessica Diane Martin - given $25,000 surety bond
• Christina Elizabeth Baker - given $100,000 bond
• Lee Michael - given $45,000 bond
• Daniel John Baker - given $100,000 surety bond
• John Volosin - given $100,000 surety bond
• Scott Hoy - given $5,000 bond

Another individual, Todd Edward Baker, not listed in the press release, appeared in court Tuesday morning on charges related to Operation Red Harvest. Baker was given a bond of $75,000.

Of the 19 total indictments brought against Doucette, Sr. in a bond hearing Tuesday morning, one assault charge was for the assault of an off-duty Myrtle Beach Police officer. Our news crew in court reports he seemed puzzled by some of the charges against him.

After bond was set for Doucette, Sr. he was informed not to associate with any of the others charged, with the exception of his wife.

Scott Hoy reportedly turned himself in to authorities in Georgetown County. All available booking photos can be found here.

Additional suspects that appeared in court Tuesday, for a total of 26 individuals:

• David Tennant Graham - given $30,000 surety bond
• John Carlton Dyar - given $50,000 surety bond
• Jenny Darlene Crowe - given $50,000 surety bond
• Steven Marion Brinsfield - given $50,000 surety bond
• Carl Matthew Murdock, Jr. - given $25,000 surety bond
• Storm Anthony Michael Bain - given $45,000 surety bond
• John Richard Bain - given $25,000 surety bond
• Todd Edward Baker - given $75,000 bond
• Joseph Russell Trombino, Jr. - given $25,000 surety bond
• Bradley Joseph Trinceri - given $50,000 bond
• Kevin Schmidt - $125,000 surety bond

President of the local Hells Angels, Ellis Schindler was one of the last arrestees to appear in court with his own attorney. The State requested bond be denied for Schindler, just as they had asked for Secretary/Treasurer Jeffrey Carl Lozier, or that he be placed under a larger bond and electronic monitoring, cited a risk to the public.

Schindler was given a $200,000 surety bond, and told he could not be in possession of any firearms and surrender his passport.

Rhodes said this operation was conducted by the Horry County Sheriff's Office, Horry County Police Department, Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Surfside Police Department and Charleston County Sheriff's Office.

One of the 11 search warrants executed on Crystal Lane and Sunnyside Avenue in the Murrells Inlet section of Georgetown County led to the arrest of 62-year-old Daniel T. Richardson, said Carrie Cuthbertson, spokesperson for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office.

Cuthbertson said 131 plants with a street value of $419,000 and 14 ounces (392 grams) of processed marijuana with a street value of $11,760 were seized, along with a substantial amount of money. Richardson remains incarcerated Tuesday awaiting a bond hearing.

Sgt. Robert Kegler, spokesperson for HCPD, said last Wednesday that Diane Marie Vitek was arrested during the execution of the search warrants for simple possession of marijuana and distribution of anabolic steroids. Vitek's charges are unrelated to the operation, and she has been released on bond.

On Wednesday morning, Kegler tells WMBF News that three additional arrests have been made: Joshua Thomas Burnette, Glenn O'Brien and Joseph Gigi Sagone.

Bonds set on the charges for the latest arrests brings the total amount of bond from Operation Red Harvest to $2,070,000.

Kegler said five suspects still remain at large.

HCPD released few details Monday morning in what was a major presence along Hwy 707 in Myrtle Beach Monday morning.

At least six HCPD cruisers were spotted at Dunes Cycles, a business on Hwy 707, just after 9 a.m. Monday.

Sgt. Kegler told WMBF News in a written statement that he could not release any details into the police presence along the roadway Monday morning.

"Horry County Police Department is conducting an operation in various areas of Horry County," Sgt. Kegler stated in an email Monday morning. "That is all the information that can be released at this time."

WMBF News was at the scene of Dunes Cycles and witnessed at least one individual being handcuffed just after 10:30 a.m.

SWAT was on the scene of at least two different residential addresses. One home on Seacroft Drive in Surfside was said to have SWAT vehicles in the driveway, and another home on Leonard Road in Socastee was also surrounded by SWAT.

Authorities at another location on Enterprise Road appeared to be loading evidence into a U-Haul trailer around 12:30 p.m. Monday.

People who live along Seacroft Road in Surfside Beach or Leonard Road off of Highway 707 in Horry County all came out to see what was the cause of the police presence on their streets.

As SWAT teams and other tactical law enforcement agencies descended on those chosen search locations as part of the operation now known as Red Harvest, neighbors tell WMBF News they remember those arrested as keeping to themselves.

Some residents even said they never actually saw their neighbors, and even though they are in police custody now, the whole operation was frightening to witness.

Neighbor Kim Dennis said, "I was scared. I had my doors shut and locked all day because you never know what will happen, you never know. I thought this was a quiet, perfect little community."

WMBF News will bring you the latest on this police operation on WMBFNews.com as further details become available.

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