Dale couple getting kids ready for school robbed in home, forced to drive assailants

A couple were forced from a home Tuesday morning in Dale and into a car by two men — one armed with a gun and the other with a crowbar — while three children were inside the home, according to a Beaufort County sheriff news release today.

The Sheriff’s Office has issued warrants for 21-year-old Aaron Jamal Covington for first-degree burglary and armed robbery, with additional warrants pending, the release said. The second suspect has not yet been identified. Covington’s last known address is Dash Road in Yemassee, the release said.

The two men had taken an undisclosed amount of cash from the house and ordered the 31-year-old woman in the home to drive her car. Her 36-year-old boyfriend had been beaten repeatedly in the head with the handgun and crowbar, and he, too, was ordered into the car that was also occupied by the two assailants. Their three children, whom the couple had been getting ready for school, were left in the home, the release said.

As they approached the intersection of Kinloch Road and Keans Neck Road, the male victim jumped from the moving vehicle and ran to a nearby relative’s home to call 911, the release said. The woman continued to drive until she was ordered to stop in the area of Jenkins Road and Bull Corner Road. At that time, both assailants got out of the vehicle and ran, leaving her unharmed.

She returned to her home, where the children had been left, also unharmed.

The male victim was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released for head injuries.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with any information regarding the whereabouts of Covington or the identity of the second suspect to contact Investigator Sgt. J. Foskey at 843-470-3214 or the Beaufort County Dispatch Center at 843-524-2777.