Free Republic

WHEN I FIRST heard about the senseless, brutal beating that 18-year-old Carter Strange was subjected to last week at the hands of a group of boys in Five Points, I was angry. When I saw the pictures of him at the hospital, I tried with all I could to control my emotions. I lost that battle. While Carter is expected to recover physically, no one can measure the emotional and mental trauma that he and his family have endured. Pray for Carter. Pray for his family. His parents and family have rightly expressed anger, hurt and disbelief over this callous,...

An angry mother stood before a judge Friday afternoon in a barebones courtroom at the Richland County jail, describing the fractured skull, busted nose and broken eye socket her son received during an early Monday morning beating in Five Points. Vicki Strange’s voice never quivered as she described racing to the hospital in the wee hours to get to her 18-year-old son, Carter Strange. She recalled standing in the emergency room and seeing a man on a gurney being wheeled down the hall, thinking, “That poor man.” As nurses wheeled the man closer, Vicki Strange thought his hair looked familiar....

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - All eight suspects are in custody after a brutal attack in Five Points early Monday morning which left the teenage victim in critical condition, according to Columbia police. Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said most of the eight suspects are juveniles, and did not release the names of any of the suspects. Timmons said no charges have been filed so far, though possible charges could include assault and battery and strong-arm robbery.

A teenager had emergency brain surgery this week after police say he was the victim of a violent beating in Five Points. The 18-year-old was running along Blossom Street near the Walgreens and Wachovia after midnight Monday when he was attacked by four men, the Columbia Police Department reported. After the beating, the man managed to run several blocks to Edisto Avenue, where a passerby found him two hours later and called 911, police said. The teen, whose name was not released by police, was taken to the hospital, where he had emergency surgery to remove a clot from his...