Mount Pleasant laundromat owner shares dangerous encounter with customer

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — Update, Nov. 15 — Mount Pleasant Police have arrested a suspect in connection to this incident. Riley McCall, 23, was booked into the Charleston County jail late Thursday night on a charge of malicious property damage.

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Original Report, Nov. 14 — A dangerous encounter with a customer. It leaves a Mount Pleasant owner fearful for her own safety. Owner of MP Laundromat, Qui Calhoun, said she’s been in the business for almost thirty years and never experienced anything like this.

She said a man who was a customer at the laundromat on Monday evening, started to throw two large rocks at her door. The surveillance video shows the man vandalizing the building.

“By ten after eight, I went up to them and said let’s wrap up. Because it’s past eight o clock and that’s when they said we’re not going anywhere. We’ll go when we are good and ready,” said Calhoun.

She said the man became aggressive when she told him the doors were closing and that’s when she knew she was in trouble.

Mount Pleasant Police said they were called to the business for a disturbance. Officers said they waited for the man and the group he was with to leave. Soon after, Calhoun said things got worse.

“When the officer went out to the car, the man came back and looked at me and said, ‘if you think I am afraid of you, or the police I’m not’,” said Calhoun.

A suspect has been identified. However, Calhoun worries for her safety.

“I worked so hard for this. I came here from a third world county, surviving the war in Vietnam, I don’t want to die that way,” said Calhoun.

Calhoun said she now faces almost seven thousand dollars in damages to her business. The vandalism report shows warrants will be sought for malicious damage to real property. The warrants will be issued once the amount of damages can be confirmed.