Gaffney Police are investigating three strong-arm robberies that occurred since Friday.

The latest of the three incidents occurred early Tuesday morning at West Floyd Baker Boulevard and Walton Drive when an unknown black male wearing a red and white hooded jacket ran up to a 40-year-old Gaffney woman and grabbed her purse. The incident occurred between 5:45 a.m. and 5:56 a.m., police said.

The woman's purse contained two money orders, one for $178 and one for $10, as well as $40 in cash and a Sprint cell phone, according to police.

A second incident occurred Monday afternoon as an employee of Carolina Payday Loans Inc., 1100 West Floyd Baker Blvd., was grabbed by a robber.

Police said the employee was closing the store at about 6 p.m. and walking to her vehicle with the company's deposit bag in her purse when she was grabbed from behind by an unknown black male wearing dark clothing. The victim told police the robber demanded to know where the money was located and he ran away with a deposit bag containing more than $2,000.

Police said workers from another business saw a white car with flip-up headlights leave the scene at a fast pace.

A third strong-arm robbery was reported Friday evening on Robert's Alley, according to Gaffney Police.

A 16-year male was walking down the alley at about 7 p.m. when a man ran up and punched him, knocking him briefly unconscious. Police said the teen awoke to find the robber on top of him, going through his pockets.

Police said the robber made off with $70 in cash. Police said they were able to learn the apparent identity of the robber and determined he had left the area in a cab a short time later.

No arrest had been reported as of Tuesday.

Has anyone

seen a Deere?

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is on the lookout for a John Deere tractor reported stolen from Ashworth School Road in the northern part of Cherokee County.

Owned by a Boiling Springs man, the John Deere 4320 tractor, which was connected to a John Deere 7400 front loader, was taken sometime between Saturday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon. The two pieces of machinery have a combined value of about $18,000.

Man charged

with shooting car

Gaffney police filed an arrest warrant for a Vermont Drive man accused of firing a gun into a car door Jan. 31.

Police charged Pierre Cortez Dawkins, 20, with discharging a firearm into a dwelling or vehicle.

Police claim Dawkins shot at a car in the 1500 block of Frederick Street on Jan. 31, on the driver's side door.

Blacksburg home

burglarized

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is investigating a Thursday break-in of a Blacksburg home.

According to a police report, someone broke into a Carrigan Drive home sometime between 9 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. Thursday. About $1,000 in coins and jewelry were taken, and the home sustained an estimated $200 in damage, police said.

Argument escalates

into alleged fight

A verbal dispute at the Connecticut Village Apartments allegedly turned into a physical one early Saturday morning when a woman claims she was struck in the head with a liquor bottle.

According to a report from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, a 42-year-old woman claimed she was assaulted by another woman at about 12:30 a.m. inside an apartment and that she was struck several times with a vodka bottle. Police said the victim suffered a two-inch cut on the left side of her face as well as swelling above her left eye. The woman was transported to Upstate Carolinas Medical Center for treatment. No immediate arrest was reported.

Auto vandalized

A vandal or vandals caused an estimated $2,500 in damage to a car on General Drive in Gaffney sometime between last Thursday night and Friday morning.

In addition to throwing eggs at the car and scratching the paint, Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said the vandal or vandals also spray-painted a racial slur on a 2001 Honda Accord.

Police investigating

apparent arson

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is investigating an apparent arson at a Blacksburg mobile home.

Sometime between Feb. 26 and March 2, someone threw a piece of cement through a window of a mobile home located on Mullinax Circle. Police said the unknown suspect also set fire beneath the broken window and in a corner of a bedroom. Police said the home sustained a burned carpet, as well as a burned bedroom wall. It appeared the fire smothered itself out without spreading, police said.

42-year-old faces

lewd act charge

Gaffney Police have filed an arrest warrant against a 42-year-old West O'Neal Street man accused of a lewd act upon a child.

According to the arrest warrant, police are accusing Laverne Johnson of having committed a lewd act upon a child under 16 sometime between April 17, 2007 and Dec. 27, 2007. The arrest warrant was filed by Det. David Clary and was served on Johnson on Saturday.