A criminal case is pending against a Claxton man who was allegedly intoxicated when he crashed through a chain link fence into a playground at an elementary school in Clinton and almost hit two officers with three school-aged children, Anderson County court records said.

Charles Eric Harmon, 59, had a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage about his breath and person,” and he told officers he was intoxicated and had “shot up heroin” earlier in the day and shouldn’t have been driving, Clinton Police Department Sergeant Scott Gregory said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Harmon has been charged with driving under the influence and five felony counts of reckless endangerment.

The crash was reported on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at Clinton Elementary School on North Hicks Street. Harmon has a pre-trial conference scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, July 30, 2018, in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

Affidavits filed by Gregory after the crash in October said a vehicle driven by Harmon had traveled through a chain link fence into the Clinton Elementary School playground and uphill into a tree. The Clinton Police Department and Clinton Fire Department both responded. [Read more…]