Security camera footage catches Hilton Head car thieves in act

A Burton and Hilton Head Island man were charged with three counts each of breaking into a motor vehicle Wednesday after they were caught on camera with a stolen vehicle on Hilton Head.

Jaquard Aiken, 21, of Hilton Head, and Sharwain Bobian, 20 of Burton, were taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center after deputies responded to reports of several vehicle break-ins in the parking lot of Sutlers Square on Matthews Drive and Cardinal Court, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Deputies found an abandoned gold Kia Optima stuck in a drainage ditch close to Cardinal Court and reviewed security footage taken from a nearby surveillance camera.

The footage revealed two African-American men getting out of the Kia that they had driven into the ditch around 3:50 a.m. The footage then recorded the men smashing windows and entering different vehicles in the parking lot, the release said.

One of the men noticed the camera and and ripped it off the exterior wall of the building, the release said.

When deputies arrived and were processing the scene, a resident on Pine Field Lane reported that a gold Kia Optima had been stolen overnight.

A short time later, Aiken and Bobian approached deputies, who recognized them from the surveillance footage.

When they were interviewed later, Bobian and Aiken revealed that they had seen deputies in the Matthews Drive Pantry area around 3:30 a.m. and, knowing that the Kia was stolen, drove down Matthews Drive toward Cardinal Court to avoid law enforcement, the release said.

Bobian, the driver, tried to hide the Kia but instead drove it into the ditch. The pair then decided to break into nearby vehicles for loose change and in the hope that they would find keys, the release said.

Bobian was additionally charged with malicious injury to property for allegedly ripping the surveillance camera from the building.

Both were taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center, where they await bond hearings, the release said.

Anyone with information about related criminal activity can contact Sgt. Doug Seifert at 843-255-3414 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Security camera footage catches Hilton Head car thieves in act."