SC police officer sees a familiar face in a video of a burglary. It was her brother.
Police officer Anita Chestnut, working in the town of North, South Carolina, saw a familiar face when she watched video of a burglary. The person in the video was her brother.
The Times and Democrat reported on the events that led to Randy Chestnut’s conviction of burglary.
Motion-activated surveillance equipment kicked on after a December 2018 break-in at a house in Denmark, South Carolina, capturing an image of the burglar, The Times and Democrat said. The family gave that video to local media and the footage came to the attention of Officer Chestnut. She recognized her brother Randy as the man that would end up taking a 65-inch television from the home, Assistant 2nd Circuit Solicitor R. Jackson Cooper, said.
Officer Chestnut discussed the video with a Denmark Police Department officer who later made contact with Randy Chestnut, the Times and Democrat reported. Randy told the officer he “took” an item than belonged to him from the home, which failed to persuade the officer away from obtaining an arrest warrant.
While Chestnut was at Bamberg County Detention Center, prosecutors listened in on his phone calls and heard him say he wore gloves the whole time, according to Cooper. That matched the video surveillance.
A jury found Chestnut guilty of first-degree burglary on Wednesday and a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole, the Times and Democrat reported.
Court records show that in 2008, Chestnut was guilty of burglary and, in 2010, guilty of armed robbery, drug charges and second-degree burglary. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and got out May 1, 2018, according to records.
This story was originally published April 27, 2019 at 11:35 AM.