Armed robbers pistol whip island man, 14-year-old cousin

A man and his teenage cousin were pistol whipped during an armed robbery on Hilton Head Island, and a store employee was held in a bathroom during a robbery in greater Bluffton in separate incidents Monday, according to reports released Tuesday by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

A 20-year-old man and his 14-year-old cousin were approached by three black men, two carrying guns, around 8 p.m. at 3 Wiley Road, authorities said. All three suspects wore bandanas over their faces.

The robbers hit both victims in the head and stole their cell phones, a wallet, and cash before running away, authorities said.

Both victims were treated at the scene for head wounds. The Sheriff's Office report offered no description of the robbers.

In the second incident, a 39-year-old employee of the Kitchen Equipment Supply Depot, 29 Kittie's Landing Drive, told deputies that three men came into the store around noon. One of them pointed a gun at him and demanded money, authorities said. They shoved him into a bathroom and pushed several pieces of heavy equipment in front of the door, the report said.

When the employee finally escaped, the men were gone and the cash register had been broken into, deputies said. The store employee was not seriously injured.

Anyone with information on either case should contact the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at 843-524-2777.

In a third incident, a Ridgeland armed robbery suspect is in a Savannah hospital after leading Ridgeland police on a high-speed chase into Georgia on Monday.

Police said Alan Steiner, 23, used a note to rob the Main Street Pharmacy, 120 West Main St., Ridgeland of Oxycontin and money. Oxycontin is a highly-addictive prescription pain killer.

Ridgeland police chased the man 25 miles before he struck another police car and drove his car into a ditch in Port Wentworth, Ga. Steiner is currently being treated at Savannah's Memorial Health University Medical Center. No update on his condition was available.

He was charged with reckless driving, fleeing from officers, and aggravated assault on an officer. Other charges are pending, police said.

No one else was hurt in the chase.