Woman returns from trip to find burglar camped out in her Georgetown County home

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (WMBF) - An alleged burglar was taken into custody Monday night after deputies found him making himself at home in a woman’s Pawleys Island home.

The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said the 30-year-old woman called 911 after returning from a trip and noticing music coming from her home.

The incident report states the woman and her daughter left to visit a friend around 5:30 p.m. Monday and returned just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.

She told deputies on the scene that she couldn’t get into her house using a key in the side door because it was deadbolted from the inside. The front door was also deadbolted but her key did work in that door. She had left the side door unlocked for the dog sitter, the report states.

On the porch, she found two trash bags containing empty food cartons. She said she had purchased the food the day before and she did not eat the food.

Deputies entered the house and found a man sitting in a chair in the woman’s bedroom. They requested he get on the ground; however, he refused and resisted arrest when the two deputies moved to cuff him.

As deputies removed the man from the house, the victim informed them the same man had been harassing her at work. She said she had seen him staring at her and was afraid he followed her home.

She told deputies her kitchen sink was full of soapy water that was not there when she left her house on Monday. She said the dishes she had left on the counter were gone.

She found clothes in her dryer that did not belong to her and in the bathroom the toilet water was running. She said she had turned the water to the toilet off because it had been running continuously.

She said there were also three additional toothbrushes in her toothbrush holder.

In her daughter’s bedroom, she saw the bed had been moved from the wall but nothing appeared to be missing.

Many items not belonging to the woman or her daughter were found in the house including a cell phone, earbuds, hats, chips, a pink blanket, black trash bags in a closet, and a Dollar General bag.

Deputies transferred 36-year-old Dwight Hardy to the Georgetown County Detention Center and placed him on trespass notices for the woman’s home and workplace.

A warrant affidavit will be completed for firs-degree burglary and presented to the judge for consideration, according to GCSO.

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