Moncks Corner, South Carolina – A Moncks Corner woman has been arrested after allegedly endangering a 12-year-old during a jet ski incident. According to Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis, 53-year-old Anne Lachell Sellers was arrested and charged with Unlawful Conduct Towards a Minor.
Around 12:30 p.m., BCSO’s Marine Patrol, BCSO’s Dive Team, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the US Coast Guard, the Naval Weapons Station Fire Department, and the Pimlico Fire Department responded to a water rescue involving a stranded jet ski operator and her juvenile granddaughter.
Sheriff Lewis said that Sellers contacted 911 to advise that she was stranded on her jet ski and that her granddaughter had attempted to swim back to shore for help.
Authorities found the juvenile in marshland approximately 600 yards from the boat ramp. The 12-year-old suffered cuts and abrasions to her arms and legs. She was transported to an area hospital for treatment and evaluation.
Sheriff Lewis said that the preliminary investigation indicated that Sellers was originally untruthful. Deputies say Sellers and the juvenile took separate jet skis and one of them was not working correctly.
Sheriff Lewis had the following to say about the incident.
“Careless decisions that endanger the lives of juveniles will not be tolerated, and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Not only was this child’s life put at risk, but so were the lives of our first responders who entered dangerous conditions to conduct the rescue. These actions are unacceptable and criminally negligent.”
The South Carolina Department of Social Services has been notified of the incident. Sellers is being held in the Hill-Finklea Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.
Jay Skelton is an independent crime journalist with a passion for covering the uncovered and the under covered.