Assailants may have cased downtown Hartsville businesses

Hartsville police are continuing to follow up on leads as they investigate a Jan. 26 robbery in which a downtown Hartsville business owner was attacked and her business set on fire.

Interim Hartsville Police Chief Jerry Thompson said police think the assailants may have been casing businesses in the downtown area for a week and a half before last Wednesday’s incident.

Thompson, chief deputy with the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, took over as interim police chief at 8 a.m. Tuesday following the announced retirement Friday of Chief Tim Kemp.

The new interim chief said the only description police have of the assailants at this point is two black males, one with a scar on his left cheek. He said investigators hope to be able to provide a more detailed description as the investigation progresses.

The Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, the S.C. Highway Patrol and the State Law Enforcement Division are all assisting in the investigation, Thompson said, and he said he would welcome help from any other sources that may wish to help.

“We’ve got leads coming in,” he said, but he said he could not release any details at this time.

“I think they are thugs, somebody that needs to be in prison; yesterday wasn’t fast enough,” Thompson told The Messenger Tuesday.

Thompson said the police department is boosting its presence in the downtown area. The sheriff’s office has also had deputies patrolling in the area. “We are stepping up patrols in the city and downtown for sure,” he said.

“We believe in aggressive policing, in catching the bad guys and putting them in jail,” he said.

The robbery and fire occurred at Jack-Be-Nimble, a children’s clothing boutique at 140 E. Carolina Ave., shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

When police arrived they saw smoke coming from the front of the store. Police officers broke the glass front door to get into the building. Inside they discovered the fire and a woman lying on the floor. Officers pulled her from the building.

Firefighters kept the fire from spreading. Hartsville Fire Chief Jeff Burr said the building’s sprinkler system suppressed the fire.

Police think two men entered the store shortly after dark, robbed the woman and set the building on fire.

She was taken to Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center. She was released Thursday afternoon.

Thompson also discussed the case in remarks he made to the Hartsville Rotary Club Tuesday.

He praised the cooperative effort of the different law enforcement agencies working on the investigation. “It is wonderful to have everyone come together,” he said.

“We need your ideas and your suggestions,” he told Rotarians.

Thompson said he plans to put more officers on foot patrol and bicycle patrol in the area.

Sharman Poplava, president of the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce, said an estimated 2,500 people turned out in downtown Hartsville Sunday afternoon where they formed a human prayer chain that stretched for two blocks and prayed for the city, its businesses and the victim and her family.

Poplava said the reward offered for information leading to the arrest of the assailants is now up to $24,625 with donations coming from Hartsville businesses and the victim’s family.

“We want to make a statement,” Poplava said. “This kind of act happens in all cities, but the difference is our response.”

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Hartsville Police Department at (843) 383-3011 or Crime Stoppers at (843) 667-8477.