York County thief climbed a tree to escape. He picked a tree at the sheriff’s house
A thief who was fleeing deputies picked the wrong tree to climb during his attempted escape -- the tree was outside the home of the York County Sheriff.
Jeremy Wayne Boatwright, 30, was sentenced to eight years in a S.C. Department of Corrections prison Monday after pleading guilty to burglary and safecracking, according to court officials and court records.
Boatwright had drilled into a victim’s garage safe and stole guns, tools and other items, 16th Circuit assistant solicitor Matthew Hogge said in court. The victim came home and found Boatwright fleeing on the victim’s golf cart, Hogge said.
Boatwright fled on foot into woods while being tracked by the York County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit and deputies.
In court Monday, Hogge told visiting South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Brian Gibbons that Boatwright was arrested in May 2020. Boatwright was found a good distance away from the crime scene, and about 20 feet up in a tree on the property of York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson
Tolson said the tree is outside a fence on his property.
Tolson was re-elected in 2020 after first being elected in 2016.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 2:18 PM.
