c/o Moss Justice Center
1675-2A York Hwy
York, SC
Rock Hill beating victim charged
with shoplifting
- nsmith@heraldonline.com
ROCK HILL --
The victim of a beating in Rock Hill earlier this year has been accused of trying to use a fake ID Sunday to get a prescription at a local pharmacy, police say.
Joshua Kelly Esskew, 20, of Rock Hill has been charged with shoplifting and obtaining drugs with fraud/deceit, according to police documents.
Esskew attempted to fill a prescription for hydrocodone Sunday afternoon at the CVS Pharmacy on Heckle Boulevard by presenting an ID from someone else who had the same last name, according a Rock Hill police report. Esskew signed the log sheet and took the prescription bag. However, after he presented a check, the clerk determined the check was invalid.
FILE. Joshua Esskew
The clerk left the pharmacy counter to check with her co-workers about the invalid check, the report states. She took back the prescription bag, but as Esskew turned to leave, she noticed the bottle of hydrocodone had been removed from the bag. Video surveillance showed Esskew emptied the bag onto the counter when the clerk had walked away.
As Esskew was waiting, the clerk also heard someone near him call him Joshua instead of the name on the ID he had presented, the report states.
Police contacted a relative of Esskew's to let her know about the warrants for his arrest and that he should call police, the report states. Ten minutes later, Esskew called and said he was waiting for police at PW's Ice Cream on Herlong Avenue near the CVS. Employees at CVS identified him as the suspect.
Esskew was then charged and taken to jail, the report states.
In April, Esskew was walking to into The Spot convenience store on Cherry Road when he was attacked by at least five men, causing him to be hospitalized. He said he was attacked because he is gay.
In October, Esskew was charged with two counts of financial transaction card fraud after someone used a Rock Hill minister's card at a Family Dollar store.
