Dollar General worker helps save kidnapped teens sent to store for snacks, SC cops say
A man is facing two counts of kidnapping after police say he forced two teenagers into his pickup truck, drove them around, then gave them money and sent them into a Dollar General to buy drinks and snacks, according to a South Carolina police department.
Deputies responded to a Dollar General in Mountain Rest on the evening of Feb. 2 after a worker called 911, according to a news release from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.
Two teenagers inside the store told a worker that they’d been kidnapped and asked the worker to call 911, the release says.
Earlier that day, a man forced the teenagers into his pickup truck in Seneca, about 20 miles southeast of Mountain Rest, according to the release. He drove them around before giving them money and sending them into the Dollar General, according to police.
He also pointed a gun at them, the release says.
After deputies arrived, they took the teens to a family member’s house. They were later taken to a hospital for evaluation as a “precautionary measure,” the release says.
The 50-year-old man, who was arrested on Feb. 3, also faces two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm and one count of possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime, according to police. He is being held without bond.
Police did not immediately respond to questions from McClatchy News on Feb. 6 about whether the suspect and victims knew each other.
Seneca is about 160 miles northwest of Columbia.
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