COTTAGEVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – A problem with a septic tank may force a small business in Colleton County to close its doors for good.

David Stanfield and his wife opened Red Brick Pizza in Cottageville a few years ago. But they may have to close their business after South Carolina’s lead health agency, the Department of Health and Environmental Control, said their septic system is not fit for the job.

“Almost two years ago we started, and almost immediately DHEC jumped on my back,” said Stanfield. “In March of last year, we started takeout only, but in March I contacted them about opening a 12-person dining room. They said yes, you can open it.”

A month later, Stanfield said he was told that could not have a dining room.

“I asked them about the tables out front – I had four picnic tables out front – they said you can have all the picnic tables you want, so we built a patio which has a bunch of outside tables. And then five months later, during another inspection, and we’ve gone through eight in one year, during another inspection they said you can’t have these outside tables. I said, well, you told us we could.”

DHEC told Stanfield that his septic tank was too small, and he was given a ‘shut door’ order.

“Two months ago, I went before the council- I begged them, I said my septic system has never overflowed, it’s never had a problem, and they said you have 60 days to put this monstrosity in back here.”

His customers were outside protesting on Tuesday while raising money to help keep them in business.

Stanfield began installing the large septic system. He says he has now spent $51,000 on the project. But his business only makes about $800-$1,000 on a good week. So, he believes he will now have to just shut down.

Stanfield eventually put a water meter on his property after a suggestion from a neighbor to see how much water was being used each day.

“Our water meter shows that we use 350 gallons per night, my existing system will do 450 gallons and they’ve got me putting in the system it will do 1,500 gallons per night which is just crazy. They’ve bankrupted me. They’ve taken every dime that we have, and we don’t even have money to open for food this week.”

DHEC sent News 2 a statement saying Stanfield was not in compliance with his DHEC permit when he moved from take-out only to restaurant seating.

“Mr. Stanfield did not dispute the grounds for suspension but requested the suspension be rescinded because he was diligently working on gaining compliance with DHEC regulations,” the statement said. “Failure to install the upgraded system would not lead to closure of the facility but would result in the return to the original food service operation as approved and permitted by DHEC.”

“I don’t understand this because, you know, America is known for if you put everything into – whatever your dream is – you can get it accomplished and they are burying us alive,” said Heike Stanfield, Co-Owner, Red Brick Pizza.

Stanfield said they were last open on Saturday. But unless a miracle happens, he believes they may not be able to re-open again.

The matter was discussed during a DHEC board meeting on May 5, 2022 with the restaurant’s owner in attendance – a motion was made about two hours and thirty-three minutes into the meeting, following an executive session. You can watch that hearing by clicking here.

Deputies make arrests after body found in Cottageville woods where hunter went missing

COLLETON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) - Investigators have made a number of arrests after a body was found in the woods in Cottageville in the same area where a hunter went missing.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year-old Schuyler Rene Andrulat of Cottageville and 33-year-old Nathan Baughman of Summerville have been charged with obstruction of justice. According to court records, the charges against Andrulat were dismissed and expunged.

A third man, Brad Skipper, has also been charged with an outstanding warrant from Colleton County.

The body was found around 8 p.m. on Thursday in a wooded area off Red Oak Road, the same area where a hunter went missing last Friday

The sheriff's office says the missing hunter was staying with friends who waited until Sunday to report him missing.

The coroner is doing an autopsy to determine the cause of death and identify the body.

The arrests stems from an incident that began on Aug. 21 when a Colleton County deputy responded to a home on Peirce Road in reference to a missing person.

The deputy spoke to Andrulat who said a friend of hers, Orin Patrick, had come to her home to go hunting Friday evening.

According to a report, Andrulat said she dropped Patrick off along the woodline on Peirce Road with a shotgun.

"Andrulat stated that several hours later, she received a call from Patrick stating that he was lost in the woods and he wanted her to drive along the road and beep the horn so that he could find his way back to the road again," the report states.

Andrulat told investigators that she did this around 9 p.m. on Friday but could not find him.

According to authorities, Andrulat said she received another call from Patrick that only last a few seconds and had since been unable to reach him through his phone again. Andrulat told deputies that she did not know any more information about Patrick.

In the incident report, the responding deputy reported that when he first met with Andrulat, she was unable to give any information about Patrick. The deputy then told Andrulat to get in contact with some of Patrick's friends or family so that he could get enough information to do a report.

Authorities also spoke with Patrick's friend, Baughman, who told investigators over the phone that he and Patrick had been staying at a home on Lakeview Drive in Summerville.

Baughman said the last time he saw Patrick was on Aug. 19, but was unsure of the time "because they had both been drinking so he did not remember much about that day."

The incident report states Baughman told investigators that this was not the first time Patrick had just "gone away, but it has never been for this long and never without making contact with him."

Detectives reported that they had Patrick's cell phone pinged to find the last location for it which was in Summerville.

Copyright 2016 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Cottageville residents have seen change in their community in the last few years, and now the Greater Cottageville Chamber of Commerce is ready to encourage more improvements.

Frank Santorella, a resident of Cottageville, said he is proud of the small town and wants to showcase its beauty, friendly people, and excellent location.

“We want to create a chamber of commerce here. We already have a 501-3C non-profit status, Maryann Blake is serving as our attorney, and we are ready to roll,” said Santorella. “We have ‘Friends of the Park’ which is comprised of people who helped develop the park into what it is now.” He says there are also plans at the park to install a memorial with engraved bricks to honor veterans. This will be accomplished by applying for grants and accepting donations.

Santorella, who plans to initiate the chamber, will serve as a temporary director. He says he already has seven merchants who are interested in joining.

“We want to make Cottageville a destination. Red Brick Pizza and Beer Garden is the anchor store for starting the chamber,” said Santorella. “It’s a one-of-a-kind business in the entire region. Once the chamber officially opens, we want to pick a member of the chamber and promote that business each week, and once a month promote everyone. There will be a rotation, and this will be good for everybody.”

He went on to say that the brick-and-mortar stores are the life of Cottageville, not the transient businesses. He feels that transient businesses will not want to invest their funds in the chamber, but the stationary businesses are here to stay.

“I think the people of Cottageville will be positively affected by the chamber and will accept it with open arms. Hopefully, this will bring even more businesses our way. Our only option now is to travel to Summerville or Walterboro to purchase some items. That’s between 15 to 20 miles away. Cottageville has a lot of people in the rural areas, and though our local gas stations try hard to serve the needs of the community, it would be nice to have boutique shops here. We already have a new vape store that has a coffee bar. So we are starting off well,” said Santorella.

He is hoping to have the new chamber up and running by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

“There will be a fee for stores to become part of the chamber,” said Santorella, who gathered ideas and patterned the Cottageville chamber after the City of Walteboro’s. “I received ideas on how to structure the fees. They won’t be impressive because social media provides a lot of free advertising. We will have a website and newsletter for the community. We will be out there,” he added.

Anyone interested in joining the new chamber can write to: Greater Cottageville Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 464, Cottageville, SC, 29435. Businesses can also contact Santorella on Facebook at Friends of the Park or call The Vape Stop at 843-701-4262.

A South Carolina highway trooper was arrested and charged with cruelty to children after he allegedly bit a 2-year-old’s cheek hard enough to leave a mark, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

SLED announced the arrest in a statement Tuesday. While the warrant provides few details, it states that Jesse Brassell, 23, admitted on Sept. 20 that he intentionally bit the child’s cheek in Cottageville, South Carolina.

In a statement, SLED said the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office asked it to investigate the incident. The child, whose name and gender are not included in the warrant, suffered a bite mark on the right cheek, according to the warrant.

Brassell was employed by the Highway Patrol for approximately 27 months, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety, which oversees highway patrol.

“He had been under suspension without pay since September 22, 2023, the date the allegation was brought to our attention,” according to a statement from the department. Brassell, who held the rank of trooper first class, officially resigned from the agency on Dec. 15, 2023.

During his time as a highway patrolman, Brassell was assigned to Post B of Troop 6, which covers Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and Jasper counties. A roster for a basic training graduating class released by the Highway Patrol listed his hometown as Summerville, South Carolina.

Brassell was charged under South Carolina’s cruelty to children statute. Under the law, it is a misdemeanor for a parent, guardian or anyone who has “charge or custody” of a child to inflict “unnecessary pain or suffering” or to deprive the child of “necessary sustenance or shelter.”

Brassell was booked at the Colleton County Detention Center. Records from the jail state that he received a $200 bond by Associate Chief Magistrate Sophia T. Henderson.

The case will be prosecuted by the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office Public Integrity Unit, according to SLED. The unit, which is a collaboration between the 14th and 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Offices, investigates officer involved shootings, public corruption and other use of force cases across both circuits.

Written by: Anna S. Bright

Submitted by: Herman G. Bright, Parade Chairman

Photo: Submitted

For 35 years, the Walterboro Shrine Club of Arabian Temple #139 has sponsored the town’s parade, honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As a nation, we honor this slain civil rights leader whose mission was to advocate for all people who had been oppressed by unjust laws and immoral abuses. King vowed, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Serving this year as parade marshal is a former Colleton County Councilman and retired pastor, Rev. Evon Arrington Robinson, Sr. When given the invitation to serve as this year’s marshal, Rev. Robinson expressed many words of gratitude and was most elated to accept this honor. Due to COVID restrictions, the parade was not held in 2021, and it was not held in 2022 because of inclement weather.

Rev. Robinson, a retired pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is a native of Cottageville, South Carolina. He is the son of the late Mr. Easley Robinson, Sr., and Mrs. Bula Mae Haynes Robinson. After graduating from Colleton Training School, he attended SC Trade School and later completed a tour of duty in the United States Army. In 1970 he received the call to ministry. He attended South Carolina State University, subsequently attending the Nichols Theological Seminary Extension in Charleston, South Carolina for religious training.

Having served in the pastoral ministry of Jesus Christ for 47 years, all of which were in the South Carolina Annual Conference, among his assignments were the Fairfax, St. Paul, Holly Hill, St. Matthew, and St. Stephens Circuits. Rev. Robinson led the Greater St. Paul and Greater Target congregations in the construction of brand-new edifices. In addition, he led the congregations at St. Peters, New Hope, St. Matthew, and St. Stephens in total renovation projects.

Rev. Robinson served the SC Conference in the following capacities: the Board of Examiners, the Ministerial Efficiency Committee, Presiding Elders’ Salary Committee, the Conference Finance Committee, Chairman of the Finance Committee for the Beaufort District, Station and Circuit Committee, Deeds and Abstracts Committee, and Abandoned Property Committee. Further, he was one of the initial organizers of the Sons of Allen Ministry and served on this committee for many years.

His ministry outside the walls of the church includes being elected to the Colleton County Board of Education. During Rev. Robinson’s tenure while serving as the board chairman, he led the historic event of hiring the first African American superintendent in the county. He was later elected and served on the Colleton County Council for 16 years, three of which he was a chairman. He served for 15 years on the Board of Directors of the Lowcountry Regional Council of Government, and he also served as treasurer for the South Carolina Coalition of Black County Officials. In addition, he served on the Lowcountry Community Action Agency Community Action Agency Board of Directors for several years, four of which he was chairman.

Previously, he was chairman of the Equal Opportunity Committee for the Department of the United States Navy, Naval Weapons Station, Charleston for 12 years, and as the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Union-Local 2298, for two years. Lastly, he is a member of the Colleton Branch of the NAACP and the Hiram Mann Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., of which four years he was the president.

For 57 years Rev. Robinson and his wife, Gloria Smalls Robinson, have been united as one. They are the proud parents of four children: Evon, Jr., Ronald, Rhonda Lynn, and Keon. They have been blessed with nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. After 28 years of service, Rev. Robinson retired from the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston in 1995. In addition, he owned and operated Robinson’s Barbershop in Walterboro for many years.

After having served more than four decades as a pastor in the A.M.E. Church, in November 2018, Rev. Robinson retired from active ministry, a calling of which he loved so dearly. He plans to travel extensively throughout the nation to share his experiences as a servant of God in the wider ecumenical circles, as well as his beloved A.M.E. Church.

The Walterboro Shrine Club’s Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade will take place on Sunday, January 15, 2023, at 2:30 p.m. on Jefferies Boulevard. At 1:30 p.m., the lineup will begin in front of Live Oak Cemetery. The public is cordially invited and encouraged to attend.