What is it about the Cane Bay neighborhood that is attracting all of the criminally inclined lunatics lately? Is the development built on an old Native American burial site or a portal to Hell?
On Wednesday the residents of Cane Bay were treated to an extensive manhunt for Brandon Sigmon who was going door to door representing himself as a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman. Readers should note that the Kirby vacuum company posted a comment on our previous article in which they state Sigmon never worked for the company or any of it’s contractors. Given that information and the citizen tip we got about Sigmon and his wife finagling their way into the homeowner’s association closed Facebook group, we can all deduce Sigmon was in the neighborhood for one reason only - to commit crimes. In fact, we have been told the firearm and the Taser he used to assault the victim of his home invasion were stolen from an earlier burglary of a law enforcement officer’s residence. None of Sigmon’s charges have been entered into the clerk of court database yet, so we have no idea if he was also charged with that crime.
Thursday morning brought more dangerous drama to Cane Bay. We are told by citizens this latest drama actually began on Wednesday when a female wearing a wig and behaving suspiciously was reported in the neighborhood. In fact, the neighbors of the latest victim thought this woman might be related to the home invasion and called BCSO twice to report her. Citizens tell us BCSO showed up six hours later to investigate. When a deputy finally did respond the citizens who questioned that response time were told, “Unless they have a gun we aren’t going to respond quickly.” Really? You are in the neighborhood conducting a manhunt for a home invasion suspect and someone calls in about a possible accomplice or a possible ride out of the area for that suspect and you just ignore it for six hours because none of the callers said the word “gun”?
Let’s test that.
On Thursday a woman who is eight months pregnant was accosted in her driveway by the same female reported to deputies on Wednesday, later identified as Julie Lynn Gordon, or Julie Lynn Gookins-Gordon. Gordon was armed with a handgun and instructed the victim to walk into the back yard, threatening to kill the victim, her unborn child and the children in the house. The victim complied until an opportunity presented itself and she fought for her life. She was able to disarm Gordon and toss the firearm into a pond. We understand Gordon took quite an ass-whipping before a neighbor intervened after hearing the victim screaming. That neighbor is a former police officer and restrained the suspect for approximately 25 minutes until BCSO arrived on-scene.
Let’s take a moment here to review. Gordon was armed with a handgun. BCSO responded in about 25 minutes. Yes, 25 minutes is considerably less than six hours, but we still would not call it a quick response. Suppose the neighbor had not been home. What shape would the victim and her children have been in after 25 minutes, assuming the perpetrator did not flee?
When deputies finally did arrive on-scene Gordon told them she had been having an affair with the victim’s husband, although, according to citizen witnesses, Gordon didn’t even know their names. BCSO bought that story and told WCBD News the incident was a domestic violence situation. Believing that story and reporting it to the press alleviated the need for another school lock-down. We are told no one even bothered to consider Gordon may have had an accomplice in the neighborhood. Now deputies are telling the press Gordon’s ultimate goal was to kill her victim, cut out her baby and keep it as her very own. That little tidbit resulted in the story going national.
Just what BCSO needs right now - national attention.
Now remember, even with a huge police presence on Wednesday, this woman hung around long enough to be noticed by neighbors at least twice and two phone calls were made to alert the authorities. Even though it took them six hours to respond to those two reports we can presume that police presence may have saved the pregnant victim and her family on Wednesday.
So, what can Berkeley County taxpayers learn from this experience? If you don’t say “gun” when you call in about a suspicious person or a crime, response times can be quite extensive. If you do say “gun” and happen to have a former police officer holding the suspect you can get response time down to 30 or minutes or so. We are sure residents of Berkeley County will appreciate that information.
Gordon is no stranger to the court system.
2000 Charges (Charleston County:
Forgery - Plead down to Financial Transaction Card Fraud. Sentenced by Judge Daniel Pieper to a $200 fine.
2010 Charges (Charleston County):
Crimes Against a Federally Chartered Financial Institution - Plead guilty. Sentenced by Judge Thomas “Felon’s Friend” Hughston to five years, suspended in favor of 5 years probation.
Yes, Gordon is still on probation.
Gordon’s latest charges in Berkeley County consist of 1st Degree Burglary, Kidnapping, Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime and Attempted Murder. No bond has been set.
Gordon, Gookins, or whatever the heck name she’s using today also has an extensive history of traffic violations, evictions and has been the subject of various lawsuits.
Hey, remember that wonderful article by the P&C last week touting the fact that our prison population is down and the recidivism rate is also down? Now you know why. With everyone on probation instead of in prison we all know those statistics are just a load of crap. Be sure to thank your state legislators, solicitors and judges for those “reductions”.
