Florence County hostage situation ends with man dead
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Florence County Hostage
Florence County Hostage
John D. Russell/MORNING NEWS
Published: August 4, 2008
Updated: August 6, 2008
PAMPLICO — A two-hour hostage situation ended Monday morning after Florence County Sheriff’s Office SWAT deputies shot and killed the suspect and rescued the 13-year-old boy being held captive, Sheriff Kenney Boone said.
Thomas John Dick, 40, was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering an undisclosed number of gunshot wounds, Florence County Coroner M.G. “Bubba” Matthews said.
The boy is safe and in the custody of his mother, whom Boone said was Dick’s girlfriend.
A relative to the boy who was at the scene said Monday was the boy’s 13th birthday.
Dick kidnapped the boy at about 9 a.m. from his girlfriend’s house at 1138 Boling Road, Boone said.
Boone wouldn’t say what kind of weapon Dick had in his possession.
Dick showed up at his girlfriend’s workplace Monday morning before the incident, Boone said, and she gave him the keys to her car.
Dick then drove his girlfriend’s car to her home in Pamplico and barricaded himself inside with the boy, Boone said.
“He was going to hurt that child,” Boone said. “And we were totally responsible to make sure that child was safe.”
Shortly after 11 a.m., multiple loud noises, which sounded like gunshots, could be heard several hundred yards away from the house.
The loud noises came from flashbangs, diversion devices used by SWAT deputies while making their entry into the house after Dick threatened the boy, Boone said.
Dick made comments during negotiations that he wouldn’t go to jail, and deputies believed he intended to hurt the boy, Boone said.
“Our only objective was to make sure this hostage was safe,” Boone said. “During the negotiation process, in a moment’s notice we had to make a decision.”
Teddy Horne, who said he is the boy’s great-uncle, showed up at the scene after receiving a call from his nephew, the boy’s father.
Horne said the boy’s father lives in Florence, but was in Texas on business Monday.
The boy’s mother and stepmother were outside the home when deputies intervened, Horne said.
The boy’s stepmother told Horne she saw deputies bring the boy out of the house. She told Horne the boy had blood on him, but the blood was believed to be from the suspect.
Horne said he fears what the boy experienced on his birthday will stay with him forever.
“It’s one he’ll never forget,” Horne said. “I wish he could forget it, but I’m afraid (he won’t).”
Lynn Schaeffer, who lives around the corner from the home where the kidnapping occurred, immediately went outside after hearing what she thought were gunshots.
“I was inside my house and I heard some loud booms like fireworks going off, so my granddaughter and I come running out to make sure our horses were OK,” she said. “And when we got over by the pasture we could see smoke every time they would let something off.”
Dick was arrested in June after a domestic dispute in Hendersonville, N.C., during which he severely beat his girlfriend, Boone said.
The charges Dick faced from that incident include first-degree kidnapping, communicating threats and assault inflicting serious injury, among others, Boone said.
A criminal history report obtained from the State Law Enforcement Division shows Dick has been arrested several times in South Carolina, including a charge that was eventually dropped for assault and battery with intent to kill in 1993.
Matthews said an autopsy will be performed on Dick’s body Tuesday.
Reader Reactions
Who I am is obvious by my screen name. I hope Stepmom wasn’t referring to me in her posting to Thom’s Family, considering I didn’t have internet until today. I would also like to know how she has known him for 25 years when he didn’t even move to South Carolina until 1992. And out of curiousity who is the family member you refer to, Streett? I truly regret what happened to Kane as I am a mother, the mother of his 2 children. I have known him for 14 years, our children are 11 and 8, and I know beyond the shadow of any doubt that he would not have harmed Kane, his mother maybe but not the child. I know that alot happened between Thom and Sharon, just like I know that alot happened between Thom and I but I also know that he never misplaced anger or hatred he had for me towards our children.
Wow,on saying lets get something straight.
Your name that says Tom Dicks family, and you have known him for 4 years didn’t really add up to me.(Some family there.)I would say this is pointed more at Michelle writing this..If I am wrong I apologize .So you say you KNOW he wouldn’t have hurt the boy cause you have known him for 4 years. WOW…That’s enough time for someone to think that somebody wouldn’t click and do wrong..I’ve known Tom since I was 15 years old, which is 25 years that I have known him.Tom has been arrested once or twice before for beating a family member of mine years ago.(Left her for dead by the way.)Thank god she broke up with him and he moved on..
Look I am not taking sides with Tom nor SHARON FARMER, trust me on that one. My only concern was the child that had a rough day. The one that was held by Toms arms and was not let go before Tom was shot. You were wrong about that. He made his threat and the child had 2 cuts on his throat and once the last threat towards the child was made is when they took action.Where you talked about his family not be notified..well his best friend that was there was suppose to call and he said he would take care of it cause Sharon was a mess and nobody else knew how to get in touch with family .He walked around with a phone and said: I guess I am fixing to call his Mother. We thought he did.Later when it was over , he made the remark..I guess I better call his mom to tell her that her son had died.I was very shocked cause I thought he did call his family.He looked at me and said: I just need to see Toms body for myself before I call his mom.I could not believe he didn’t call her before time. And nobody seen the body.. I myself feel that family should have been called as well. But don’t know anymore other than how his best friend kept saying he was handling.
I don’t deny that he stayed at Sharon’s the last month before he died..I don’t know. it’s Not my business though.But going on what the child says: Tom stayed some and he did not go Sat or Sunday to the mothers house the days before.Just going on what the child told me 3 seconds ago.I’m like you…I’m not trying to be ugly to you or his family.I hate this has happened. I really am..
Last thing….DO YOU HAVE KIDS OF YOUR OWN? reason for asking..You say Sharon shouldn’t have been there at her own home where her own son was being held hostage. Can you say that you would be some where else if it was your child? If you say yes, it says alot about you.
I sat by Sharon’s side and she was no distraction to sled as you said.She cried , talked with family and me. She was not allowed to move out of her mothers yard.The only time she spoke to sled was when they came to her. You’re wrong on that one too. I don’t know who gave you information on this day..I do know YOU were not there.So only type the things you do know for a fact and nothing more.And I don’t know who bailed him out, just that we were told his mother.
ppl say that he would never hurt the boy, but if thats the case then why did he take the boy hostage?? the boy will have to live with what went on that day (his birthday) for the rest of his life. even if she was talking with him or letting him spend the night tom had no right to do what he did. so of you think 2 hours was not enough time to end it, i think it was too much time to give him. i know there are two familys out there that will never forget this, and i pray that over time the the pain will go away for both familys. lets face it we can all sit here and point the blame at each other, but there are only 2 ppl that know what went on in that house that day. whats done is done, lets all let BOTH familys have some peace.
lets get this straight. Ive known Tom for 4 years. He wouldve never hurt that boy. He let the boy go and they still shot him. As for his girlfriend, SHARON FARMER, shes the reason he lost his mind. She kept holding it over top of his head that she was gonna put him in jail, and what no one knows is that SHE was the one to bail him out of jail in NC! I know this b/cuz i worked for Sharon for over a year and i was there when she drove my aunt 2 NC 2 bail him out bcuz she wasnt allowed 2 be seen with him in NC. Also, when the situation was happening, why wasnt any of his family notified by police. We could have gotten him out of there and he wouldnt have died. his mother was in timmonsville and his sisters was in florence and it wasnt that far. Sharon didnt tell police that he had family nearby. He also spent the last month with Sharon at her house, even sleeping there for the month and the night before the incident. The 3 of them, Tom Sharon and her son were at his mothers house the day before on Saturday and sunday. What happened overnight? AND WHY DID SHE GIVE HIM HER KEYS IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN SHE KNEW HER SON WAS HOME ALONE AND IF SHE FELT DANGER, WHY WOULD SHE GIVE HIM THE KEYS IN THE FIRST PLACE? His mom and sisters have since then been trying 2 contact Kenny Boone and the coroner and neither one has yet to bother returning their calls. If theyre investigating it, then why havent we been questioned on anything? Believe me, if I thought he would hurt that boy, I wouldve shot him myself, but he would have never done that. Anyone who knew Tom, knows it, also. Kenny Boone took time to call Tom’s children’s mother about the situation, but we haven’t heard a word yet! I think the action took on his life was wrong and could have been avoided if the police had done their job the right way. Sharon shouldn’t have been on the crime scene in the first place, she was a distraction to sled and was more worried about what was goin on than the safety of her own son. only time will tell now.
I can not believe the things I have read on here about that horrible day that I will never forget..I will not answer any questions that some of you may ask of me. I will not give you any details on that day. I want to put this day behind me, my step-son and his father. Some of you that are writing have no clue about that day. I DO…I was there the entire time. All I will say is I GREATLY appreciate the actions of the FCSO S.W.A.T team and Sheriff Boone. They did everything they could to neutralize the situation. I watched, I listened and I experienced a nightmare.This was my step-son in that house,the one I watched grow up,took care of and love very much. I pray for you all that you never have to be put in this situation ever in your life, with someone that you love. I pray that you will be the lucky ones and Our teams can help you as they helped us. You say 2 hours wasn’t long enough..They seemed like a lifetime to me.My step-son had to celebrate his birthday that night with this day in the back of his mind.
Sativa704,
If you’re going to “name call” at least get it right (re: “Flo-town Cops suck”). “Flo-town Cops” didn’t even handle this situation—FCSO did!
And they did a great job with keeping the child SAFE. Unfortunately the man made a series of poor choices in his life that led to his death.
If my child had been in that situation, I would have wanted SWAT to move in immediately and get my child out safely!!
I’m glad to see that people have “stepped up the support” for the FCSO on this site and about this situation. Thumbs –Up to Reader123!!!!!
And for those of you, like Sativa704, who think Flo-town Cops suck……why don’t you move???? If you don’t like it here…we don’t want you here!! But, I bet you feel safe and protected where you live now!!!!!! It’s people like you that don’t appreciate the law enforcement officers until YOU need them. Remember that when, Lord forbid; something that requires serious law enforcement assistance should happen to you of someone in your family. Guess you are on the looser bandwagon too! But then again…you sound like a looser!!
CitizensRights - Again…that is not a smirk on the Sheriff’s face…its a brief moment in time when he’s holding composure for the camera while he’s concerned for his officers and the child and what is going on. But if you think its a smirk, so be it. I already am in question regarding your judgement.
You dont know “What went down” so how can that concern you? You, yourself admit you dont have all the facts. The public has been made aware of the facts of this case, in so far as their is a pending investigation by SLED which is standard procedure for an officer related shooting. Simply because SLED is conducting an investigation does NOT imply that there is any misconduct or corruption. Ask one of your ‘cop’ buddies and see what they say. I’m sure they’ll confirm that fact. If you are working so hard behind the scenes to enlighten the public about the inner corruption then you should be well aware of the policies and procedures of the FCSO and SLED and the inner workings of SWAT. You should also be aware of the many long hours the SWAT officers spend training for high stress situations and for every imaginable scenario which may occur. You say they did not follow policies and procedures. Please enlighten the rest of us at to what policies and procedures they violated.
Again, you havent answered any question posed to you about what you would have done. All you have done is hypothesize on what may have happened and criticize the actions of well-trained and honorable officers, yet you have offered no other evidence of what they did wrong or why, or how else they should have handled it. I hope that once SLED’s report comes out you will then understand why what was done was done and issue an apology on here to the officers and thank them and hope that they will be the ones to help you should you ever need their protection. Or else you can place a personal call to Gregg and maybe he’ll help you in his off time.
You say 2 hours wasnt long enough too wait to save this childs life.. So if it was your child in that house would be saying Oh wait its only been 2 hours please wait least a few more hours and talk to that physco that has my child in that house and dont have no idea what he is doing to my child!! would that be your answer if it was YOUR CHILD!! everyone can say it was wrong but that was a child and they done what needed to be done 2 mintues in that house for that child was too long
Montgomery28, I watch the tape again. I am will admit I was WRONG about the flash bangs and shots on tape. But Sheriff Boone did have a smirk on his face when he turned back round. But the flash bangs and looks does not matter to me. It is the way this went down, and what is called policies and procedures. Yes, I hope SLED will get to bottom of this, but this incident is just one of many that the public is not very aware of. As for me being a cop, forget it I make a lot more money than they ever will. I respect the good ones, and have friends that are cops. I just know a lot that cannot be said at this TIME about the current corrupt and civil violations. I just hope some of these things will come out before the election. It is not that I hope they come out to help Greggs; I am working to help them come out to clean up the department and make it follow the letter of law. Just because I am not doing much on this blog but say a few things that are my opinion, does not mean that I am and others are not working behind the scenes to bring the truth in the light. To any cops out there, if you are the right side and follow the law, I salute you again and wish you well. But to all others, remember live is a circle, and you can not run from your sins for long before they caught up with up.
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