Sheriff Leon Lott announces the arrest of Jimmear Starks (DOB: 7/16/97) following reports of a suspicious person with a gun.
On July 4, 2025, around 11:30 am, Richland County deputies responded to the 4600 block of Hardscrabble Road about a person with a gun. The call for service described a man armed with a rifle sitting inside a vehicle under the Publix sign near Hardscrabble and Lee Road. When deputies arrived in that area, they located the individual, Jimmear Starks, in his vehicle. Upon contact with Starks, deputies observed a rifle on Starks’s person and noticed a strong smell of marijuana and smoke inside the vehicle. Deputies detained Starks and conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle.
The search yielded a second firearm, a handgun, as well as large amounts of narcotics. Further investigation revealed that the rifle in Starks’s possession was stolen from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Starks is charged with Unlawful Possession of a Sawed-Off Rifle, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana.
“This is an excellent example of ‘see something, say something’”, says Sheriff Lott, “thanks to a concerned citizen who was willing to speak up, we were able to recover a stolen firearm and narcotics that would’ve otherwise been sent into our community.”
Starks was transported to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. He has since been granted a $30,000 surety bond; however, he is still detained.