South Carolina

SC men arrested after brutal beating near a Sonic, including one found in Texas, cops say

A man was brutally beaten in Lexington County and two others were arrested, including one who was extradited from Texas, according to the Chapin Police Department.

The attack happened Sept. 29 at 1153 Chapin Road, police said Wednesday in a news release. That’s a Sonic Drive-In, which is in a part of Chapin densely packed with restaurants, and isn’t far from Exit 91 on Interstate 26. There was no information indicating the attack occurred inside the Sonic.

At about 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, officers responded to the 800 block of Old Lexington Highway after getting a report about a victim of an assault in need of medical aid, according to the release. That’s about 3 miles from where police said the attack happened, and information about how the victim got to the second location was not available.

Officers determined the victim was with Bryant Hunter Sanders and Jared Hunter Peake at 1153 Chapin Road, following a previous argument, police said. Information about why the victim was arguing with Sanders and Peake was not available.

The victim believed that the argument had been settled when he was attacked, according to the release. Police said that Sanders and Peake planned to assault the victim — and hit him in the head multiple times with a handgun, while also landing multiple blows to his arms and body.

The victim suffered multiple injuries to his face, head, arms and body, and was bleeding profusely after the assault, according to the release. He was taken to Lexington Medical Center with what police called non-life-threatening injuries. Further information on his condition was not available.

No other injuries were reported.

Investigators determined Sanders was involved in the attack, and with help from the Newberry Police Department, he was taken into custody at his Newberry home, police said. The 24-year-old was arrested in September, when he was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and criminal conspiracy, Lexington County court records show.

His bond was set at $80,000 on the combined charges, and was posted in September, according to court records.

Police said their investigation led them also to identify Peake as an attacker. The Lugoff resident was tracked down in Eastland, Texas, and extradited back to Lexington County, where he was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and criminal conspiracy, police said.

On Wednesday, his bond was set at $300,000 on the combined charges, but the 24-year-old Peake remains behind bars in the Lexington County Detention Center, according to jail records.

Information about why Peake was in Texas, more than 1,000 miles from the crime scene, was not available.

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This story was originally published October 19, 2023 at 11:47 AM with the headline "SC men arrested after brutal beating near a Sonic, including one found in Texas, cops say."

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Noah Feit
The State
Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription
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