SC man caught in Florida after carjack, kidnap of teens in Chester County, sheriff says
A South Carolina man has been captured in Florida after carjacking and kidnapping two teens in Chester County who gave him a ride, officials said.
Curtis Dwight Tompkins, 23 of Greenwood, was caught Thursday after a chase by police in Putnam County in Florida, according to a statement from Grant Suskin, spokesman for the Chester County Sheriff’s Office.
Tompkins is charged by Chester County deputies with attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, carjacking, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and pointing and presenting a weapon, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald.
Police found the teen victims Monday in rural Chester County after they knocked on doors asking for help, Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey said.
Chester detectives worked with federal agents and Florida police to find Tompkins, officials said.
“We are very thankful to law enforcement in South Carolina and Florida to have this suspect in custody now after what we believe was a traumatic and dangerous event for the victims,” Dorsey told The Herald Friday afternoon.
Crimes started with asking for a ride
The incident started Sunday night in Clinton in Laurens County, Suskin said. The two teens in a Camaro were at a gas station fueling the car when Tompkins asked for a ride and offered the teens money, according to Suskin and the warrants.
More than 50 miles away at a gas station in Chester County, near Interstate 77, Tompkins allegedly put a gun to the head of one of the teens and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go off, according to arrest warrants.
Tompkins then took control of the Camaro and drove away with the teens in the car, officials said.
The teens were able to flee on foot from Tompkins on Mountain Gap Road in Chester County, where they sought help by knocking on doors, Suskin said.
The teens are not from Chester County, Dorsey said. Police have not said how old the teens are, or where they were from.
Tompkins remains in the Putnam County jail pending extradition to South Carolina on the pending arrest warrants, Suskin said.
