Local News in Brief for April 7

Area students are still touring Italy

A group of students from Aiken left Sunday to spend some time in Orvieto, Italy, about 50 miles from L'Aquila, where a 6.3 magnitude earthquake killed more than 150 people on Monday and injured more than 1,500.

George Custodi, chairman of Partners in Friendship (PIF), the group sponsoring the trip, said Monday that he had not talked to the group but he had spoken with friends in Orvieto who said that they only felt tremors from the quake and received no damage.

According to Custodi, the group is currently touring Italy and will arrive in Orvieto in a couple of days.

2 in hospital after motorcycle wreck

A Wrights Mill Road man is in critical condition at the Medical College of Georgia with injuries he sustained in a motorcycle crash in Aiken Sunday, officials said.

Robert G. Reagan, 56, was traveling west on the Rudy Mason Parkway about 9 p.m. with a rider on the back of the 1974 Harley-Davidson motorcycle he was driving when he reportedly struck the median.

Both Reagan and his passenger, a 19-year-old man, were thrown from the bike, and both were taken to the hospital.

The passenger's injuries did not appear to be life threatening, official said.

Reagan is in critical condition at the hospital, MCG officials confirmed.

Man charged with assault, battery

An Aiken man was jailed this weekend on allegations he was drunk at a Marlboro Street bar and touched several women inappropriately.

Deyli R. Torres, 23, of Dexter Street in Aiken, is charged with four counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and one count of disorderly conduct.

A security staff member at the bar told police the man was causing a problem and was unwilling to leave. He was reportedly highly intoxicated, groping women and spilling beer all over other patrons. Several women reported that the man grabbed them and fondled them.

He was jailed early Sunday morning.

Woman arrested for alleged assault

A Sumter Street woman was arrested this weekend on allegations she stabbed a man in the shoulder late Sunday.

Carrie H. Cunningham, 50, is charged with assault and battery with intent to kill.

The stabbing occurred after several disturbances at the Sumter Street apartment complex were reported, police say.

Police did not report the severity of the stabbing.

Three holdups reported in county

Three convenience store holdups were reported in Aiken County Monday night. The first was reported in the City of North Augusta, the second just outside the city limits of North Augusta and the third in Graniteville, according to officials late Monday.

In all three incidents, a man with large handgun was successful at robbing the businesses.

The incidents were under investigation at presstime. It is unclear if the same suspect was involved with all three.

The Aiken County Bloodhound Tracking Team was called to search.