According to authorities, a shopper at a South Carolina convenience store admitted to stabbing another person in the throat while in the checkout line.
On Monday, Frank Arthur Lawson, 64, pleaded guilty to one count of high and aggravated assault and battery, as well as possession of a weapon while committing a violent crime, according to the state’s Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. He was sentenced to 17 years at the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
The charges stem from an incident in June 2023 that occurred at a Spinx convenience store in Greenville County, South Carolina. According to authorities, Lawson and the unidentified victim “were in a disagreement about who was next in line” at the store when Lawson “pulled out a knife and stabbed the unarmed victim in the throat.”
The male victim survived the attack “due to the quick response of Greenville EMS” and medical workers at the nearby hospital where he was taken, according to the Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Lawson’s criminal history in Greenville County dates back to the 1980s, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. In January 1989, he pleaded guilty to simple common law assault, with the original charge being a familiar one for 2023: assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. In 2018, he was found guilty of receiving stolen goods totaling $2,000 or less.
The stabbing happened at a Spinx near Greer, South Carolina, a city of approximately 45,000 people. Spinx stores are mostly located in South Carolina, but some are also in neighboring North Carolina.
