Spark Arrest: Employee set car on fire to steal deposit

onedef92 · 06-21-2011, 6:50am

HCPD: Employee set car on fire to steal deposit

Posted: Jun 20, 2011 9:58 AM EDT
Updated: Jun 20, 2011 7:11 PM EDT

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – Horry County Police arrested a Myrtle Beach man after they say he set his car on fire Saturday to cover up stealing thousands from the gas station where he worked.

Sgt. Robert Kegler, spokesman with the Horry County Police Department, said units with Horry County Fire Rescue requested officers to respond to an area along Socastee Boulevard Saturday in regards to a vehicle fire.

After extinguishing the fire, units discovered a small amount of money along with napkins that smelled of gasoline.

According to Jacoby Gwonteer Kirkland, 30, the vehicle's owner, he was the manager at a nearby gas station and was driving to a bank to drop off a large deposit when the car caught fire.

The police report stated Kirkland told officers the deposit was about $17,000.

Kegler said a K-9 unit with Horry County Fire Rescue confirmed an accelerant had been used to start the fire.

At that time, Kirkland was placed in investigative detention as officers launched their investigation.

According to Kegler, officers concluded Kirkland placed a smaller amount of money in the car and then intentionally set it on fire to make it look like an accident.

Inside the car, only $675 in cash was found in the following denominations:

Three $20 bills
14 $10 bills
75 $5 bills
100 $1 bills

Mimi Hillegass, who owns a nearby business, says this is one of the most mindless crimes she's heard about.

"It sounds like something off of that TV show World's Dumbest Criminals or something like that. The first thing I thought of was this guy's trying to be on TV," she said.

Socastee mom Maritza Jimenez says she's not surprised to hear about a crime like this in these tough times, but she says it's no excuse.

"You've got to go out there and work as hard as you can. Taking money from someone else is not a job, that's just a crime," she said.

Kirkland was arrested and taken to J. Reuben Long Detention Center, where he is charged with arson in the third degree and breach of trust more than $5,000.

Online booking records with the detention center indicate Kirkland has been released on a bond of $2,500 for the arson charge and $10,000 for the breach of trust charge.