Bishopville, SC (WLTX) -- Bishopville police are searching for the man they say beat and then kidnapped a woman.
"It just all happened so fast, I don't think anybody had a real clear description of the vehicle and that type of thing," explains witness William Barrick. Folks working near the intersection of Main and Church streets, like Barrick, were shocked to see the scene unfold. They say it started at 9:30 Wednesday morning with loud voices and a man reaching into a car driven by a woman that was stopped here. Recalls Barrick, "The guy jumped on to the hood of the car, like he was trying to stop it or something. As it straightened out on to Church Street, it looked like he was being dragged, or skating on the side of the car and they pulled behind the Subway restaurant right here."
Barrick lost sight of the car then and went to call 911, but there were several others who saw what happened next. Bishopville Police Chief John Ewing says, "The guy ran around to the side, pulled the victim out of the vehicle and started beating her up. Then he threw her back in the car, got in the car and they drove northbound on 15 toward Darlington County."
According to Ewing, that's all they really have so far. No one knew the woman or the man, if they knew each other or where they were going. "It could be anything from a domestic dispute where the boyfriend was beating the girlfriend to a stranger abduction," he says.
But they're not taking any chances, treating it as the worst case scenario, a kidnapping. "If we can identify the victim, then we can go to the victim, first of all, make sure they're okay," Ewing says, "If we can't find the victim, but we know who the victim is, we can talk with family members. Maybe they'll have a cell number, maybe they'll at least know exactly what type of vehicle we're looking for."
Police say the man is about 6 feet in height and weighs about 175 pounds, but they did not provide a specific description of the victim. Investigators say the man was wearing a black and orange baseball cap during the incident, but it fell off. Police sent the hat to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for DNA testing.
If you can help investigators find the suspect or victim, you are asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC or text a tip to "CRIMES" beginning with the term "TIPSC."
11/25/2009 9:03:08 PM
