Charles City woman arrested in connection to Molotov cocktail incident at Myrtle Beach motel

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City woman is in custody in North Carolina for allegedly being involved in throwing a Molotov cocktail near a motel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Ashley Rae Konen, 34, of Charles City, and Jonathan Scott Jordon, 32, of Mechanicsville, Iowa, are being held in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on $100,000 bond each, while awaiting extradition to Horry County, South Carolina, where Myrtle Beach is located.

Konen and Jordon were arrested Saturday in Charlotte by police on charges of arson and use of an incendiary device, according to Myrtle Beach Police spokesman Tom Vest.

According to the police, the incident began at about 8:20 p.m. Friday, April 19, at the White Sands Motel on North Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, a popular vacation resort on South Carolina’s Atlantic Coast.

The police report said there was an argument taking place outside the motel.

A witness told police she knew the people who were arguing and had recently hung out with them, and that she had said she would give them $20 and Konen and Jordon took the money and left.

The witness told police she received a text from one of the suspects, saying “we ain’t playing and she better be ready,” the police report said.

Konen and Jordon allegedly returned to the area about 10 minutes later in a gold Buick LaSabre and threw a bottle containing a flammable liquid and a burning fuse out of the window.

The Molotov cocktail started a fire, but no one was injured and there were no damages, according to the police report.

Police said surveillance video confirmed the report by the witness.