Former Clarendon 1 employee faces embezzlement charges More than $22,000 allegedly taken from school district BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES | VOL. 120, NO. 28
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A former Clarendon County School District 1 employee faces criminal charges after reports she allegedly stole more than $22,000 from the district. Dana Hawkins, 52, of 316 Sunset Drive, was charged with embezzlement of public funds (valued at more than $10,000) in connection
with the incident. According to Clarendon County court records, the Manning woman turned herself in to deputies Oct. 31, and she was released from HAWKINS Clarendon County Detention Center on a $20,000 surety bond later that day. Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office released a report on the case
Friday afternoon. According to the sheriff’s office report, School District 1 finance administrators contacted authorities Oct. 21 to report the embezzlement of district insurance funds. The complainant told officers she discovered the alleged embezzlement while conducting a yearly grant report, finding several discrepancies
SEE EMBEZZLEMENT, PAGE A7
Getting ready for Sip and Stroll
‘Dumb and Dumber To’ 20 years later, Harry and Lloyd seem exactly the same A6 SPORTS
Wilson Hall, LMA football teams battle toward SCISA 3A state title berth B1 David Shoemaker, on drums, above, does a sound check for Pack Road Project while David Haag, left, tunes his guitar just before the start of Friday’s Sip and Stroll event downtown. Sumter City employees Leigh Newman and Lynn Kennedy, right, string lights on a tent Friday night. PHOTOS BY RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM
Hagel orders changes in nuke force A3
‘Friendliest faces you’ll ever forget’ Tuomey celebrates Perioperative Nurse Week with education, goodies
DEATHS, A7 Jeannette Fink Louise S. Blanding Dora Louise Brown Helen H. McLeod
Larry Wilson Maurice Middleton Everlena G. Eaddy Johnnie Williams Jr.
WEATHER, A8 THERE’S A CHILL IN THE AIR Sunshine today; becoming partly cloudy tonight HIGH 49, LOW 32
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BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com Today marks the end of Perioperative Nurse Week. Perioperative registered nurses provide specialized care to surgical patients before, during and after the procedure, said Ivonne Moore, registered nurse and certified nurse in an operating room at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. “I’m the patient’s advocate,” Moore said. “My best interest is the patient’s best interest.” She is one of three certified for the position at the Sumter hospital and one of 12 nurses that serve in the operating rooms of the hospital and free-standing surgical center.
WHY DID YOU BECOME A PERIOPERATIVE NURSE? I got my surge tech training during my 15 years in the Air Force serving in Desert Storm and Desert Shield. When I got out, I became a cop, but my husband wasn’t too thrilled with that. So I went back to nursing school and worked as a surge tech here (at Tuomey) while I went to school. I was recruited as an OR (operating room) nurse before I graduated.
It’s my first love. I’m not a floor nurse. I like the action, the ability for things to change, and you have to think in the spur of the moment.
WHAT DO YOU TYPICALLY DO BEFORE AN OPERATION? With day surgery, once we get the patient in the room, we do a time out. We check the patient’s name, date of birth, the procedure being done and then allergies and antibiotics. We check to make sure the patient is in MOORE a safe position, and we work to make you as comfortable as you can be on that little bed. We really interact with them up until the last minute they fall asleep, holding their hands and talking to them. I work here, and I’ve had numerous surgeries here, and I still get jacked up before surgery. I try to imagine it’s me or a family member on the table. Then we get them over to the table where the magic happens, and they go off to sleep. We call another time out. The surgeon checks
one more time that this is the correct patient and procedure. The surgeon checks that they have the right site, such as the right knee or left knee. The appendage is usually marked with the surgeon’s initials. Once everyone agrees it’s all right, they go ahead and start the surgery.
WHAT DO YOU DO DURING THE PROCEDURE? I contact the family to let them know it’s actually starting. So if the physician told you it would take two hours, start counting time now. Then we’re on the other side of the sterile field charting. Charting is the legal form for what’s being done. We serve as liaisons between those in the operating room and other medical professionals and surgeon and the family. If it’s a laparoscopy procedure, we’re moving around monitors and IV bags.
WHAT ABOUT AFTERWARD? When they wake up, we slide them over to the bed or stretcher and accompany them to recovery.
SEE NURSE, PAGE A7
Police jail man wanted in July shooting incident BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com Police arrested a Sumter man wanted in connection with a July shooting early Friday morning. Kelvin Owens, 34, of 835 Webb St., was charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and unlawful possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting inci-
dent. He faces additional charges stemming from his arrest Friday. Sumter police encountered the suspect and another man about 1:40 a.m. walking in the road along Silver Street carrying alcoholic OWENS drinks. According to reports from Sumter Police Department, officers approached the two men and
asked for identification. Both said they had no ID, and Owens told police his name was Corey Dwyar. At some point during the questioning, Owens took off running, and officers apprehended him after a short foot chase. Police arrested both men and transported them to Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center, where authorities learned their true identities. Owens had open Sumter County warrants, many of
which stemmed from the July 12 shooting along West Patricia Drive, where shots rang out just after 3 a.m. According to a Sumter County Sheriff’s Office report, witnesses identified Owens as one of the shooters who began firing upon a home and vehicle parked in the first block of the street, striking the residence at least once and the car twice. The report indicated Owens was embroiled in a fight with several of the home’s residents
hours before the shooting. Victims said he fired shots from a handgun while advancing upon the house from U.S. 521. Witnesses told police a white four-door car pulled in front of the home moments later and began firing more shots at the building. Investigators found 10 .223-caliber shell casings and five 9 mm shells in the roadway near the scene. Two flower pots in front of the residence were also shot during the melee.