CHARLESTON, S.C. — Three men were arrested over the weekend after College of Charleston public safety officers found them on campus passed out in a vehicle with multiple guns and ammo.
Around 2:30 a.m. on June 1, an officer responded to the roof of the Saint Philp Street parking garage after observing a suspicious vehicle on security cameras, Post and Courier reports. The officer located the vehicle and found three unconscious men inside. The officer alleges the driver had an AR-style rifle resting against his shoulder and that another handgun was on the center console between the driver and the front seat passenger. The third passenger in the back seat allegedly had a handgun between his legs.
The responding officer called for backup and the officers drew their duty weapons as they approached the vehicle, according to an incident report. The officers were able to remove the passengers from the car and observed them “to be unsteady on their feet, to have red, glassy eyes and the odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from their breath.”
Officers searched the car and located a backpack with another automatic-style pistol and an additional handgun. Officers also allegedly found 35 rounds and three magazines of 10mm ammo, 14 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition, 184 rounds of .300 ammo, and five 7.62mm rifle magazines.
The passengers, 22-year-old Jorge Calvario, 22-year-old A’tavious Flowers, and 23-year-old J’marri McCall, were arrested on charges of carrying weapons on school property. A magistrate judge declined to approve the swearing of arrest warrants against the men and they were released from custody hours later. An administrator within the magistrate’s court office speculated that the reasoning was likely a lack of probable cause, according to Post and Courier.
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South Carolina is a permitless carry state, meaning anyone who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm is allowed to carry one openly or concealed without a permit. However, firearms are prohibited from school campuses.
The evidence seized will be held for 90 days and College of Charleston public safety command staff work to continue the investigation and bring other potential charges against the men.
