Tim Hicks - Managing Editor

Sheriff's deputies check the north side of S.C. 64 June 28 for a robbery suspect that fled during a traffic stop.

Tim Hicks - Managing Editor

Deputies with a canine tracking team enter the woods near Bon Accord Place Road and S.C. 64.

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An armed robbery in rural Barnwell County resulted in the manhunt of one suspect that authorities are still seeking.

At about 12:27 p.m., June 28, Barnwell County sheriff's deputies were called to 4818 Popular Road about a robbery that just occurred.

A car with four people inside had driven up to the residence. One person went inside the house while another confronted a resident of the house in the front yard. The other two people remained in the car, said Barnwell County Sheriff Ed Carroll.

The suspect in the yard pulled a pistol, then demanded and received an undisclosed amount of money from the resident. The four suspects drove away, he said.

Shortly after, a deputy stopped a grey 2006 Mercury Mountaineer sport utility vehicle at Harry's Sportsman Club at 355 Patterson Mill Road that matched a description of the suspect vehicle from the robbery, Carroll said.

Three of the suspects remained in the Mountaineer, but the fourth, a black male, jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the woods. The suspect peeled off an outer shirt soon after the chase began, he said.

"A pistol was recovered out of the vehicles believed to have been used in the robbery," Carroll said.

With the help of the city of Barnwell police and agents from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, the sheriff's department set up a perimeter, initially along River and Patterson Mill Roads and S.C. 64.

As two tracking dogs picked up the trail of the suspect, the perimeter changed during the chase. At one point the search crossed over to the north side of S.C. 64 after a trail was detected. The perimeter then shifted to S.C. 64, Bon Accord Place, Conway and Red Cedar Roads.

Carroll said the search involved 10 police officers altogether, including two tracking dogs and five dog handlers who searched as the temperatures approached 107°F with the humidity factored into the heat index.

At about 2 p.m., deputies checked a tractor shed on Bon Accord Place that appeared to have been entered without the owner's knowledge.

After about two and a half hours of searching, the suspect was not apprehended before the chase was called off at 3:15 p.m. due to the heat.

By this time, Carroll said that they had a probable identification on the suspect and could continue looking for him through other methods.

"We are in the process of trying to locate the individual," he said.

The suspect is described as a black male, 20 years old, about 5 feet, 10 inches in height and weighing about 140 pounds, he said.

"We shut it down because of the heat," Carroll said. "That's when myself and the command team and others decided to stop the chase because of the physical condition of the dogs and dog handlers."

"The dogs did an excellent job. We kept them wet and hydrated, but we rotated them as much as we could rotate," he said.

A check with the National Weather Service on June 28 indicated the high temperature that day was 99°F with a heat index of 107°F once the humidity was included.

The counties immediately south of Barnwell County had heat advisories posted by the National Weather Service.

A NWS heat advisory is when excessive heat is expected in the next 36 hours. A heat warning is used for conditions that are life-threatening. A heat advisory is issued for less serious conditions that cause significant discomfort and could lead to life-threatening situations if caution is not exercised.

One deputy was taken to Barnwell County Hospital and given two bags of fluid intravenously because of dehydration, Carroll said.