Police looking for man they say beat up his former employee in December in Beaufort
Police are asking people to be on the lookout for a man they say beat up a former employee with his son in Beaufort in early December.
Kenneth Warnke Sr., 50, of Atlanta, is wanted in an alleged Dec. 2 assault, according to a post on the Beaufort Police Department’s Facebook page.
Police believe Warnke may be in Atlanta because he has ties to that area, the department said in the post.
“Mr. Warnke Sr. is a fugitive, and we are working with other law enforcement agencies in the Atlanta area to find him and bring him in,” Capt. George Erdel from the department said.
Warnke’s son, Kenneth “Chase” Warnke Jr., 24, of Lady’s Island, was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and criminal conspiracy on Dec. 15, court records show. He was released the next day on bond.
If found, the elder Warnke will be charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, criminal conspiracy and possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime, according to investigator Josh Dowling from the department.
What happened?
An initial incident report for the assault that took place on Dec. 2 was titled “armed robbery,” but Dowling said there was no evidence of a robbery.
The day of the attack, police responded to the intersection of Hamar Street and Green Street in Beaufort around 4:30 p.m. after receiving calls about a fight, the report said.
At the intersection of Adventure Street and Green Street, they found a bicycle and items they later discovered belonged to the man who was allegedly assaulted. Witnesses at the scene told police they saw men in a black Hummer try to run over the bike rider. The men, the report said, had a baseball bat and a handgun. The man on the bike was hit in the chest and leg with the bat before he was able to run away.
It was evident the man on the bike had been injured, police said in the report. He told them the two men in the Hummer were following him before the attack and that one of them, identified as the elder Warnke, was carrying a handgun but did not point it at him.
The man told police he had stopped working for his alleged attackers on Nov. 28 and that they owed him approximately $70 for two days’ worth of work. The man was doing yard work for them, Erdel said.
No attorney has been identified for Chase Warnke as of Wednesday, according to the Beaufort County Clerk of Courts Office. Chase Warnke did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday and Wednesday from The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
