Authorities search for armed robber who pretended to be stranded motorist
By HEATHER RUPPE
A Colleton man who stopped to help what he thought was an injured motorist was robbed by the would-be crash victim.
According to a Colleton County Sheriff’s Office incident report, the victim was driving on Cane Branch Road near Walterboro on April 10th when he saw an unknown person standing in the road. Behind the man was a vehicle stuck in the ditch.
The victim stopped to help. However, when he did, the suspect then pulled out a handgun and stole two cell phones from the victim. The victim said the suspect “got angry” when he learned the victim didn’t have any money, and the suspect then fired the gun into the air before running off into the woods.
The suspect’s vehicle was towed from the scene.
This is being investigated as a case of armed robbery. The victim was not injured.
In other crime news:
Unattended children found laying in the road
Deputies were called to a Walterboro house on April 14th to a 911-call about children laying in the road. According to a Colleton County Sheriff’s Office incident report, a deputy responded to the emergency call and found several children at home alone. The children were laying in the road on a curve and the older juveniles were not watching out for the younger children in the house, the report states. The mother was not on scene. However, the deputy located the woman. The deputy also notified the Department of Social Services and the investigative division of the sheriff’s office. This is being investigated as a potential charge of unlawful conduct toward a child, the report states.
Child being solicited on internet
A Smoaks woman contacted the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office last week and alerted local authorities that someone had been trying to solicit her child online. The case is being investigated and no further details are available at this time.
Good Samaritan follows drunken driver to gas station
Deputies were called to the ACE Basin Parkway in Green Pond to a report of a vehicle driving erratically on April 11th. One of the concerned callers followed the driver of that vehicle to the Circle K Gas Station, and notified the deputy of the driver and the location. When the deputy arrived, he found the driver standing outside the vehicle. While speaking to the man, the deputy stated in his report that he could “smell the odor of alcohol” coming from him and that the driver was “not in good condition” to operate a motor vehicle. It is unclear if the man was taken to jail or charged with a crime.
Rent dispute leads to fight
Deputies were called to a Ruffin residence on April 10th to a report of assault. That began over an argument about rent money. According to a sheriff’s office incident report, the suspect and the victim – two adult men – began arguing when the alleged victim asked the suspect for rent money. The two argued, and the suspect then offered to pay less rent money because of “all of the yard work that he had been doing around the residence,” the report states. The suspect allegedly threw a glass at the victims’ head, “barely missing him,” the report states. The two then got into a physical fight. This case is still under investigation.
