South Carolina: Citizen holds suspected burglar at gunpoient, aids in arrest

Merriweather, South Carolina

From the Edgefield Daily of June 3, 2009

Citizen holds suspected burglar at gunpoient, aids in arrest

Citizens doing their part to stop the rash of burglaries paid off after a Richmond County man was taken into custody by an armed homeowner Wednesday afternoon. Jamie Tyler, of Garrett Road, (Left) said he saw the man the Sheriff’s Office was hunting run from behind a shed in his yard and pulled his Glock 9 mm pistol and ordered the man to the ground. “I had my gun on him and yelled at him to get down, get down, or I’ll put you down.” When the suspect turned around and saw the gun pointed at him he complied and deputies arrived moments later to take him into custody.

The manhunt began after another citizen heeded recent pleas from the Sheriff’s Office to call in suspicious vehicles and reported a red Mustang pulling in and out of driveways on Republican Road around 1:30 pm. A nearby deputy responded to the area and spotted a red Mustang parked at a home at 708 Republican Road. Deputy Jessie Robles exited his car to run the license plate and a man emerged from the back corner of the house holding a small fire safe and a jewelry box. When ordered to stop the man dropped the goods and fled into the woods.

Edgefield County Sheriff Adell Dobey and every available deputy converged on the area within minutes setting up a perimeter. “We knew he was still in the area,” Sheriff Dobey said. Edgefield and Aiken County Bloodhound Teams began tracking the suspect as a SLED helicopter circled above. “I called everybody I could for help,” Sheriff Dobey said, “We weren’t going to let him get away.”

A caller reported a man fitting the description running behind Buck Tyler’s Taxidermy on the corner of Garrett Road and Martintown Road which was just a few hundred yards away from the crime scene. Deputies in the area began checking homes and informing residents of the situation. That is when Mr. Tyler said he made sure his children were safe inside of his home and went outside to keep an eye out for the suspect. That is when the man emerged and Mr. Tyler held him at gunpoint until deputies could arrive and cuff him.

(More)