Man faces up to 15 years in prison for stealing cigarettes, cash

A Gaston man is in jail today charged in connection with three breakins at a convenience store on U.S. 321 near West Columbia.
Mr. Henry Antonio Burgess, 40, of 213 Oakglenn Drive, was charged Friday with three counts of second-degree burglary, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.
Investigators said someone broke into El Cheapo three separate times in November and December, stealing cigarettes worth a total of $2,800 and an undetermined amount of cash.
Arrest warrants allege that Mr. Burgess broke into the El Cheapo convenience store at 3862 Highway 321 between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Nov. 1, between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Nov. 19 and between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 8.
On Nov. 1, someone broke into the convenience store by using a brick to shatter a glass window at the front of the business and stole $400 worth of cigarettes, Sheriff James R. Metts said. 
On Nov. 19, someone broke into the convenience store by creating a hole in a cinderblock wall at the rear of the business, Mr. Metts said. The person stole Newport and Black&Mild cigarettes worth $1,400 and a 22-ounce bottle of Smirnoff Green Apple worth $2.79, the sheriff said.
On Dec. 8, someone broke into the convenience store by cutting a hole in a concrete wall at the rear of the business, Mr. Metts said. the person stole 25 cartons of Newport 100 cigarettes worth $1,000 and an undetermined amount of cash, he said.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. Burgess had clothing and other items that surveillance camera photographs show the burglar possessed during each of the three burglaries at the convenience store, Sheriff Metts said.
Mr. Burgess is in the Lexington County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing, officials said.
Under South Carolina law, second-degree burglary is a felony that carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison, Mr. Metts said.