Deputies arrest man who was hiding in old apartment

WEDGEFIELD -- A 35-year-old man was arrested after Sumter County sheriff's deputies found him hiding in an apartment in which he used to live early Sunday, according to the sheriff's office.

Juan Williams of Winnsboro is accused of breaking into a woman's apartment and destroying several pieces of furniture Saturday.

Deputies found Williams hiding in the bedroom closet of a unit at South Forge Apartments, 230 S.C. 261 South, in which he used to live hours after the burglary in the early morning hours Sunday, according to an arrest report.

Williams was taken to Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center on charges of burglary, malicious injury to property and resisting arrest.

The investigation started Saturday evening when the 23-year-old woman reported that someone broke into her apartment, in the same complex, and broke the fish tank, master bed, coffee table and mirror, and kicked a hole in the wall, causing a total of $850 damage.

When deputies arrived, they saw Williams and approached him, but he ran away, leading them on a foot chase before escaping, an arrest report says.

They found him during a routine check of the vacant apartment hours later.