Fleeing Beaufort Co. burglar runs onto off-duty cop’s property. Now perp is in custody
A Jasper County man is behind bars after an alleged botched burglary attempt led him straight to an off-duty police officer, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Kenyon Paul Kearns, 40, of Pineland, was charged early Friday morning with first-degree burglary, a felony punishable by 15 years to life in prison.
Around 4 a.m. Friday, a homeowner walked with his friend into his house in the Chesterfield community, a small neighborhood of single-family homes located off Broad River Boulevard in Burton. Immediately after entering, “he could tell somebody had been in his house,” said sheriff’s office spokesperson Master Sgt. Danny Allen.
The man started searching the house, eventually finding Kearns in the backyard. The suspected burglar bolted and the two men chased after him, according to a police report.
Kearns ended up near the yard of an off-duty deputy’s residence, where the two other men began “physically fighting” him, Allen said. Hearing the commotion, the deputy called for backup before heading outside, breaking up the brawl and detaining Kearns.
On-duty police arrived shortly after and made the arrest, the report says. Kearns did not appear to be armed but was reportedly found with a small amount of clothing stolen from the home.
In Beaufort and Jasper counties, Kearns had been convicted of at least a half-dozen crimes related to theft and stolen goods since 2017. He pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and grand larceny at the Beaufort County Courthouse on Monday, just four days before his most recent alleged break-in.
This story was originally published August 23, 2024 at 9:37 PM.
