Former Kingstree Water Department employee arrested

A former Kingstree Water Department employee has been arrested by State Law Enforcement Division agents in the Pee Dee.

Owens Stanley Brazell, 61, of 2307 White Oak Road, Kingstree, is charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent, according to a SLED press release issued Monday.

According to his arrest warrant, Brazell is accused of taking more than $1,000 from Kingstree Water Department customers and converting the funds into his personal use between August 2005 and July 2007.

Breach of trust with fraudulent intent is a felony offense punishable up to five years in prison.

Brazell previously was convicted of breach of trust with fraudulent intent in 1987 stemming from an Horry County Police Department case, SLED arrest records show. He also was convicted of obtaining more than $200 under false pretenses in a case investigated by the West Columbia Police Department. In addition, he was arrested in 1992 and later convicted of violating the innkeeper act in a Surfside Beach Police Department case.