A Colleton County man is in federal custody in Maine, charged with kidnapping, interstate stalking and multiple counts of witness tampering and has reportedly denied all charges. Dustin Beach of Green Pond, 25, was arrested by the Lewiston (Maine) Police Department in the Super 8 Motel in Lewiston on July 25 after a report of a woman who said she’d been hit by a hammer, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent investigating the case. The woman apparently met Beach in Walterboro. Beach offered to give her a ride to Walmart to buy laundry detergent and then to the laundromat. He reportedly then took her phone and broke it, and drove north. At one point in the drive, she allegedly told the agent Beach got into an altercation with another driver, during which his truck got stuck in the mud. A police car pulled over to investigate, but after talking to Beach, the police car drove away. That officer reportedly told the agent he did not see anyone else in the truck. During the drive to Maine, the agent said she told him she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and beaten with a cane, a metal hammer, the center console of the truck, a large gold safety pin attached to Beach’s keychain and his fists. She also reportedly said he threatened to kill her and her children. At one point in Maryland, the woman allegedly said she got out of the car and asked several individuals for help, but was unsuccessful. Upon arriving in Maine, the agent said she told him a woman rented the motel room. Beach’s response After being arrested, Beach reportedly told the agent he met the woman in Walterboro. He said he was planning a trip to Maine and asked if she wanted to go and she accepted. He denied causing any of the woman’s injuries and denied raping her, the agent said. The agent reported Beach initially said he had consensual sex with the woman once prior to leaving for Maine. After being told a rape kit would be done, “Beach changed his story and said he had sex several times with [the victim] including in his vehicle and in Maine,” the agent said in his affadavit. The arrest Warrants were issued on July 25 and July 26 for the room at the Motel 8 and for a blue 2006 GMC Sierra pickup. Items the agent reported were found in the search of the room included a keychain with a large gold safety pin, a folding knife, clothes and paperwork with reddish-brown stains in appearance with dried blood. Reportedly recovered from the truck were a wooden cane with a broken tip, the bottom half of a silver cane, a cane, a metal hammer, receipts from gas stations and restaurants in N.C., Maryland, Massachusetts and Maine, a broken cell phone and other items. Other charges The agent said Beach is also facing charges in Dorchester County, arrested on March 2 for kidnapping, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of cocaine, distribution of methamphetamine, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. That arrest apparently stemmed from a report that for two days in February, Beach reportedly assaulted a girlfriend with a bull whip, a stick, a shotgun and a pistol. On those charges, Beach was released on bail about June 10, subject to GPS monitoring. But on June 27, the prosecutor’s office was notified that Beach had cut off his monitor and a bench warrant was issued July 19, according the agent’s report. Beach has a history with Colleton County law enforcement, including a current bond on pending charges for second-degree criminal domestic violence in Walterboro Municipal Court in March 2018; a July 2018 second-degree burglary conviction where he served 18 months’ probation of a three-year sentence after pleading guilty; a 2011 dismissed charge of aggravated and battery of a high and aggravated nature; a 2012 conviction for petit larceny, sentenced to time served; a 2014 guilty plea of aggravated and battery of a high and aggravated nature, sentenced to three years suspended to two years’ probation, substance counseling, drug-alcohol random testing and no contact with the victim; a 2014 guilty plea to shoplifting, sentenced to time served; 2013 dismissed charges of criminal domestic violence; a 2013 guilty plea to burglary, sentenced to give years suspended, two years’ probation with substance counseling and random drug-alcohol testing. Beach’s trial is scheduled in the Portland, Maine U.S. District Court in February.
