Man charged with setting fire to post office in SC and Midlands-area city hall
A South Carolina man was charged in federal court for crimes stemming from two separate fires he set at a post office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
Jeffrey Albert Scott, 61, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Columbia in connection with the destruction of Bishopville’s Post Office and damage to Bishopville’s City Hall, acting U.S. Attorney M. Rhett DeHart said in a news release.
Scott, a Bishopville resident, was charged with three counts of malicious damage to a building by means of fire and two counts of destruction of letter boxes and mail, according to the release.
Both the post office and Bishopville City Hall are in Lee County, about 50 miles east of Columbia.
According to the indictment, on or about Jan. 19, 2017 Scott set fire to the Bishopville Post Office, also damaging the mail boxes inside.
A few years later, on or about Oct. 17, 2020, Scott again set fire to the post office, as well as Bishopville City Hall, according to the release. The fire destroyed the post office, including the mail inside building, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Scott has pleaded not guilty to all five charges, according to the release. He was arraigned Tuesday by a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Columbia and is currently behind bars at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center on related state charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In South Carolina, Scott is facing charges of second-degree arson, second-degree burglary, and malicious injury to real property (value $2,000 or less) from a Oct. 17, 2020 arrest, Lee County court records show. Scott was denied bond on the arson and burglary charges, jail records show.
The federal case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; the Bishopville Police Department, and the Lee County Department of Public Safety.
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This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Man charged with setting fire to post office in SC and Midlands-area city hall."
