BLYTHEWOOD – At least one suspect has been arrested in the aftermath of a string of thefts from mostly unlocked cars and the theft of two vehicles from a gated community in Blythewood last week.
Elijah Ameria Worthy, 18, was arrested on Friday, June 7, on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, larceny/breaking into a motor vehicle and two counts of financial transaction card theft that occurred in Cobblestone Park.
On Thursday, June 6, Richland County Deputies responded to multiple reports of vehicle tampering and two vehicle thefts in the neighborhood.
The suspect or suspects entered nine vehicles, which were left unlocked, and stole various property including handbags, wallets, electronics and tools, according to the incident report. Additionally, two vehicles which had spare keys inside were stolen. Both of those vehicles were later recovered in the 100 block of Mary Lawhorn Road.
Worthy was arrested the next day at his home on Marietta Street in Columbia where deputies found him in the driver’s seat of a vehicle that was reported stolen.
Worthy was in possession of two credit cards which had previously been stolen from two different vehicles in the Cobblestone and Lake Carolina communities, according to the incident report. He was linked to a vehicle break-in in the Blythewood area after a latent print was lifted from the vehicle and was confirmed through the RCSD’s Latent Print section as being Worthy’s.
It was reported that two of the thefts were from vehicles at Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross’s home. Another resident, Ed Parler, the town’s Director of Economic Development, said that while his vehicles were spared, his neighbor’s Cadillac Escalade was stolen as well as another one down the street.
“After the shock of it, I think it was a wake-up call for us to be more cautious,” Parler said.
Worthy is being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia.
