Lady’s Island driver held at gunpoint before suspect takes over driving, crashes

A Lady’s Island man said he was held at gunpoint as someone entered his car and demanded money at a stop sign in Burton early Thursday morning, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

After playing pool with a friend in Port Royal, the man was going back to his friend’s house to play video games around 1 a.m., according to a Sheriff’s Office report. Somewhere in the Burton area, the man said he stopped at a stop sign and was approached by a man who got into his car, pointed a gun at him and told him to drive. Throughout his interview with deputies, the man was not accurately able to recall where the stop sign was, but thought it might be in the area of Joe Frazier Road.

The intruder was described in the report as a black male in his 20s with short dreads and no facial hair wearing a red jersey and baggy shorts. He allegedly repeatedly asked the victim how much money he had on him, to which the man repeatedly answered “three dollars.”

After a short time, the suspect told the driver to pull over and switch seats with him, according to the report. While the suspect was driving very fast, he told the victim to hand over his money. The suspect was allegedly spooked when the victim reached into his pocket, swerved and drove into a ditch on Burton Wells Road. After crashing the car, the suspect ran off without stealing anything.

Deputies found the spot where the vehicle had gone off the road and someone came to pick the victim up and help him change his now-flat tire.

This story was originally published September 24, 2017 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Lady’s Island driver held at gunpoint before suspect takes over driving, crashes."