Woman and her small child woke to man kicking in their front door, SC cops say
A man was arrested on multiple charges after a series of home invasions in South Carolina early Monday morning, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
After failing to force his way into one Richland County home, 37-year-old Jerome Reed kicked in the door of another house on the same street, the sheriff’s department said Tuesday in a news release.
At about 3 a.m. Monday, deputies responded to reports of two home invasions on Sky Lane Drive, according to the release. That’s in Hopkins, in the area between Lower Richland Boulevard and Leesburg Road.
Deputies arrived at a home in the 700 block of Sky Lane Drive where they found an open door and began to search the property, the sheriff’s department said. While clearing the house, deputies discovered Reed with items from the home in-hand, according to the release.
Reed was taken into custody, but while he was being removed from the home he tried grabbing a deputy’s gun, the sheriff’s department said. Reed did not get the gun and was restrained by deputies, according to the release.
An investigation showed that Reed first attempted to break into a home in the 800 block of Sky Lane Drive by kicking the front door, but he was unsuccessful, the sheriff’s department said. Reed then moved to the home in the 700 block where he ripped off the doorbell camera and began kicking the front door, according to the release.
The noise woke the homeowner and her small child, the sheriff’s department said. The mother and child left their home and hid before Reed entered, according to the release.
No injuries were reported by the sheriff’s department.
Reed was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where he was charged with first-degree attempted burglary, first-degree burglary, attempted taking firearm or other weapon from law enforcement officer in addition to malicious Injury to real property, according to the release.
Bond was set at $9,625 on the combined charges, but Reed remains behind bars, jail records show.
The Hopkins resident is scheduled to appear in court again on July 25, according to Richland County judicial records.
When he was taken into custody Monday, Reed was out on bond from March 19 and April 14 arrests on trespassing charges, and he has been arrested more than a dozen other times in the past decade, Richland County court records show.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 1:47 PM.
