PC Sheriff’s Office makes arrest in Rash of Car Break-ins

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating a string of thefts where vehicles parked in residential areas have been entered while homeowners were asleep during the night. Sheriff’s detectives immediately identified a pattern in that the vehicles had been left unlocked by the owners creating targets of opportunity. Money, clothes, tools and a handgun were reported stolen from the vehicles. Areas and incidents in Pickens County where break-ins to motor vehicles have been connected to this individual were along Powder Mill Road and Smith Memorial Highway as well as cases with several other incidents still under investigation that are expected to result in additional charges in the following days. Pursuant to a traffic stop, 37-year-old Luke Elliott Lister of Pickens was taken into custody and charged with eight counts of auto breaking and entering, six counts of petit larceny and one count of unlawful possession of a handgun.