York County SC sheriff: Almost $20K in fireworks stolen from dealers near NC line
Deputies in York County are investigating the theft of almost $20,000 worth of fireworks in the past two weeks from businesses near the North Carolina state line, according to officials and incident reports.
The latest theft was reported over the weekend at a fireworks dealer on U.S. 21 near Carowinds, said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Office.
In that burglary near Interstate 77 Exit 90 and close to Charlotte, locks were cut off a storage building, and more than $3,000 worth of fireworks were stolen, according to deputies.
“This is the most recent theft. The others were before New Year’s Eve,” Faris said.
Fireworks sales and business activity typically go up before July 4 and New Year’s Eve in South Carolina where many types of fireworks are legal. Such fireworks cannot not be legally sold in North Carolina. Many of the dealers are near the state line.
“Now we have a report of a theft after the new year,” Faris said.
Detectives are working to see if the latest theft has any connection to four other reported thefts of thousands of dollars in fireworks near the state line just before the new year, Faris said..
In an incident on Dec. 28, another fireworks dealer near Carowinds reported a burglary to an outbuilding that contained fireworks.
On Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, two fireworks businesses respectively on U.S. 321 and S.C. 55 in western York County, north of Clover and also near the state line, were hit, reports show. The thefts include two burglaries at the same business on U.S. 321 south of the Gaston County line, according to Faris and incident reports.
In those four incidents on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, more than $16,000 in fireworks were stolen from outbuildings and a store, reports showed.
In all the incidents in December and this month, locks were cut or doors were breached with force to gain entry to the buildings, reports show.
No arrests have been made.
All five cases remain under investigation, Faris said.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 2:00 PM.
