Hardeeville bank robber suspect says own words shouldn’t be evidence. A judge disagreed
After allegedly robbing a Hardeeville bank on March 19, 2019, a man took off with $12,000 in hand and zoomed southbound by car on Interstate 95, making for the Georgia border.
Hardeeville police gave chase. In less than 10 minutes, the suspect’s Kia Forte was wrecked and he was in handcuffs, according to police reports.
The man, identified as Eli Scrutchins, of Woodstock, Georgia, had crashed into a tractor-trailer. While on the scene, he expressed shock at how quickly police got to him.
“Thirty-eight seconds inside, 29 seconds to my car, how ... did he get to me so that fast?” he said, according to court documents relating to body camera footage.
“You should be at Bojangles and not get to me in a minute and a half,” Scrutchins said. “Forty-eight seconds to the highway, five minutes and eight seconds out of the state. It’s impossible. It’s the biggest fluke ever.”
The statements came into focus this week in federal court when Scrutchins’ attorney tried to get his statements thrown out as evidence. That’s because Hardeeville police did not read Scrutchins his Miranda rights, which are his rights to not self-incriminate, when Scrutchins spoke about the speed in which he was caught, according to court documents.
On Feb. 7, U.S. District of South Carolina Judge David Norton ruled against Scrutchins in a 30-page opinion.
“Scrutchins’ statements where he seemingly discussed the robbery and expressed his disbelief at how fast the police responded were spontaneous and in no way elicited through police commentary or questioning,” Norton wrote.
Rights violated?
After Scrutchins wrecked on I-95, Hardeeville officers and Port Wentworth Police officers made their way to the scene.
The Georgia man was handcuffed and stood up next to his car, with several officers around him for the next 20 minutes, according to court documents from Scrutchins’ federal public defender Cody Groeber.
Officers asked Scrutchins if he had a gun anywhere, whether he was hurt and whether he had his identification and wallet.
Once a person is detained and being questioned by police, law enforcement is required by a Supreme Court ruling to let the detainee know they have a right to remain silent, to an attorney who can be present during questioning and made available if they cannot afford one.
Hardeeville police did not read Scrutchins his Miranda rights when he was detained, court documents said.
Groeber, Scrutchins’ attorney, argued that the search of his car later on, where $12,000 allegedly stolen from South State Bank would be found, was tainted by the omission of his Miranda rights.
However, according to Norton, those rights only apply when someone is being actively interrogated by police. Norton said that the body camera footage showed Scrutchins offered up his take on police’s quickness to catch him “without prompt” from police.
In addition, Hardeeville police first opened up the doors and trunk of Scrutchins’ car for a safety check. Then, later on after it was towed, Hardeeville police obtained a warrant to search it where they found the cash.
Groeber argued the first search was warrant-less and therefore illegal.
Norton disagreed with that too.
Because the car was wrecked on the highway, “officers were permitted to search that vehicle without first obtaining a warrant if they had probable cause to believe it contained contraband or evidence of illegal activity,” Norton wrote.
Scrutchins faces charges of armed robbery, possession of a weapon in commission of a violent crime, and possession of a weapon as a convicted felon, according to documents. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 4:12 PM.
