Garners Ferry Road Walmart arsonist receives eight-year sentence

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January 27, 2025

On Jan. 23, Laurence Blocker pled guilty to arson in the third degree. The Honorable Milton G. Kimpson sentenced Blocker to eight years, suspended to six to be served in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), followed by two years of probation.

On May 11, 2023, the Columbia Fire Department (CFD) responded to a fire at the Walmart Supercenter on Garners Ferry Road. The store’s surveillance cameras recorded Blocker igniting a shelf of foam mattress toppers, resulting in nearly $1 million in damages for Walmart. The Columbia Police Department (CPD) shared images from the surveillance footage, leading to the defendant’s capture two blocks from the store.

During an interview, Blocker admitted to CPD that he was at Walmart at the time of the incident. Upon being taken into custody, law enforcement found multiple lighters in the defendant’s possession.

Following the investigation, CFD Deputy Fire Marshall Ken Willis confirmed that the fire was intentionally set and that the individual in the surveillance footage was responsible for it.

The Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, represented by Assistant Solicitors Samuel McGlothin and Keith Taylor, prosecuted the case.

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