Kidnapping added to 3 suspects' charges in incident that caused Clover schools to lock down

Three suspects face several charges, including kidnapping and criminal conspiracy, following an incident Dec. 5 that caused Clover School District to implement its “secure school protocol.”

According to a York County Sheriff’s Office report, Willie James Bailey, 57, of Clover, and Marcus Anthony Meadows, 47, and Scott Robert Davis, 45, both of Gastonia, N.C., are charged with assault, kidnapping, larceny, drug violations, open container, criminal conspiracy, driving under suspended license for DUI, failure to stop for blue light and reckless driving.

Deputies responded to a call about a possible burglary at 5:30 a.m. from 2234 Brightwood Drive in York, the report states.

According to the report, a middle-aged couple, a man and a woman on Brightwood Drive, said they were awakened by a knock on the door. The woman said her boyfriend was hit in the face and forced by three suspects to go to a shop in the back yard to look for a motorcycle that wasn’t there, before all four left in a gold Honda Accord toward Davis Farm. One of the suspects stole the woman’s iPhone, the report states.

A deputy attempted a traffic stop after seeing a vehicle matching the description, but it did not stop, the report states. The car was “driving without regard for the safety of others on the road” as it headed from Dr. Nichols Road to Paraham Road toward Highway 55,” the report states.

The car ran a stoplight at the intersection of Paraham Road and Highway 55, continuing north on Paraham before the driver lost control and the vehicle went into a ditch and struck a power pole, the report states.

Three people, including the Brightwood Drive man, were removed from the vehicle, the report states. The man taken from his home had a bloody left eye, the report states.

Two suspects said they knew the other man only as “Rabbit,” who fled on foot. A K9 Unit was called in.

Officers were able to track Whiteside’s cell phone location and found “Rabbit” at about 8:30 a.m. on Lincoln Road, the report states. The suspect denied it was him saying he was “doing landscape work” and that’s why he was wet and dirty, the report states.

During a pat down, officers allegedly found an unlabeled prescription bottle with Xanax pills on one suspect and saw multiple open containers of beer in the car.

The report states during the investigation, Meadow and Davis said they did not know why Bailey wanted to go to the Brightwood Drive home, except to see about a motorcycle. They also said the man they allegedly took from the home was “free to leave at anytime,” and that after the car got stuck in his yard, he drove it to the road, the report states.

The two also said they didn’t want Bailey to run from the police and pulled the emergency break and “knocked the car out of gear in an attempt to stop the car.”

The man who said he was taken from his home told officers he did not run because he was afraid because it was three against one, and he didn’t want his girlfriend to get hurt, the report states.

On Monday, Clover High School posted on Facebook about the incident at about 9:30 a.m. stating “This morning there was an incident that occurred involving law enforcement not involving any schools, students or personnel.”

“We had all of our schools do secure school protocol just to be safe but were in constant contact with law enforcement,” said Bryan Dillon, school district public information officer.

Schools under the protocol were Oakridge, Bethel and Griggs elementaries, Oakridge Middle and Clover High “based on the direction the suspect was moving,” Dillon said.

The elementary schools were already in session, and the middle and high school students were “made to come inside quickly and asked to go straight to classes.”

Dillon said the protocol means students continue with daily activities but all the doors remain locked and students stay in the classroom.

The protocol was lifted at about about 8:55 a.m., Dillon said.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Kidnapping added to 3 suspects' charges in incident that caused Clover schools to lock down."