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
To Justice4all - If you put your money where your mouth is and contact Fox news, I hope you will offer “Boone and his boys” an apology when an investigation reveals everything was justified. I don’t know how you can say Boone is trying to cover something up when past experience has shown he does not hesitate to arrest even his own officers when they do something wrong.
It’s funny how a couple of years ago when one of Boone’s deputy’s shot and killed someone, because they had a weapon and threatened them, or someone else, that nothing was said about that incident. Maybe there was nothing to gain from that incident. But, because it is an election year I guess people have to try to find some reason to make “Boone and his boys” look bad. And just so you know, I was fired from the FCSO and was not happy about that, but what’s right is right. Don’t bash “Boone and his boys” until you know whether the facts you have are correct or not. And by the way, from what you said, seems to me you may have some knowledge of FCSO policy or protocol, or think you do anyway. Maybe you or someone in your family is a former member of the FCSO.
If you were not there you do not know the “true facts” and true facts is the only way anyone can make an informed opinion. Maybe when “all” of the facts are known you can support “Boone and his boys” instead of bash them, ya, think??????
To Montgomery28:
Without knowing all the facts you still guarantee that they were in the right? So, how long have you been with the force? BTW, do you know that those charges you stated were dropped? So you should not add on bogus information as Boone already did with the press. I have to agree
with ‘CitizenRights’. There are too many holes in this story and two hours without notifying the suspect’s family to try to talk the suspect out of this is totally unprofessional. Boone and his boys are covering up something and totally rushed this process and they know they messed up. And I will need to expose this to the major news networks. A full investigation by Fox news may reveal things, ya think? Boone is lucky the boy was not injured and is this not against protocol? What weapon did the suspect use? What were the threats? Did he have a knife to the boy’s throat and telling the cops he will not go to jail or he will kill the kid (that would be an actual threat and hostage situation)? Are they going on a call from a family member of the girlfriend that the suspect took the kid hostage? Well, I could go on with more unanswered questions, but I will let the anchors take that on. This is obviously a major screw up by FCSO and will be revealed soon to all. It is good to know that there are logical people out there like ‘CitizenRights’. Keep on it!
Justice4all
Listen people… I never said that FCSO should never use force. I was saying that two hours is a short time to try to negotiation a safe plan for everyone involved. Look at the video again of Boone when the flash bang when off, he had a smile on this face when he turned back round. I think he would have waited until he found out his guys were ok, but he probably knew what weapon Dick had already. Believe this, if he had a gun it would have been disclosed and shot would have been fired on both sides. You have to remember the recent story in Columbia, where a cop got got shot and a bone shattered during executing a search warrant. In another story of a cop killing a mother with her infant in her arms and unarmed, during entering a home looking for someone else. The election is coming up, and FCSO had not been in the paper or news much so they will milk this one and others. To Montgomery28, yes, charges were filed against Dick, and they said he HAD a gun in NC. Does that mean that everyone that has charges pending against them gives the FCSO the right to kill or use excessive force against them? I am not rushing to judgment, but I hope you guys wake up before it is too late. I will make this very clear, two hours was not enough time to make sure it was safe for the boy, or the officers unless they knew what weapon he had. If they did not know, this was an action that could have cost the lives of the officers and boy. Think about that before you start praising our fearless leader.
i am glad that the boy was not hurt, CitizenRights i know the boy and his mom very well, if you knew the story behind it all you would know what was done had to be done. i have also know Kenny Boone for many years and i know if he says they had to enter then they had no other options. i think that 2 hours for a little 13yo boy is like a life time, not knowing what is going to happen to you. as far as the cops covering something up goes, trust me they are not.
Damn good coverage last night. Sheriff Boone was being interviewed when the flash bangs were deployed. You could tell by the look on his face that he was sincere when he said they had no other option. That child is safe. That is all that matters. I concur that it was an excellent job by the FCSO
To CitizenRights – You or the majority of the public does not have the details of the situation and they cannot be released until a full investigation is completed. But, I guarantee the SWAT team had grounds for excessive force since that is what was used. Besides, this guy had been charged with kidnapping & assault and battery with intent to kill once before. We live in a cruel world and people need to wake up & face it. So, I wouldn’t talk too much trash about “Boone & his boys”…..…you made need them to save you or some of your family one day!!!!!
FCSO is luck the boy was not hurt or killed by them rushing and inpatients. Listen people, two hours hostage situation ends with swat entering a home. TWO HOURS! Now, that was rushing it and not trying to talk it out when the event originally started around 9 am at girlfriend’s work or house and ended around 11 am at the home. Why not say what kind of weapon Dick had in his possession? Because that would be grounds for possible use of excessive force. If it was a gun, they would have said that like they always do. How would it look to say we shoot multiple times and he only had a knife? The boy was covered in blood from the suspect, so either the boy was upset his mother’s boyfriend was shot and went to hug him after the fact, or he was very close to Dick when he was shot multiple times. If you are facing FCSO swat you better watch what you say, if you say “I do not want to go to jail, or I will not go to jail”, they take that as you are going to kill someone. Boone and his boys do not have to worry about Dick getting out of this one.
I do not want anyone to get me wrong, I am not saying swat is not needed and force should never be used, but this story does have a lot of holes and problems. And it sounds like FCSO is trying to cover it up to the public, by not stating all the facts, and then stating alleged charges of the suspect. Just ask yourself one question, if the weapon is not being indentified and the suspect is dead, why? Also, what were the threats to the boy and why? Criminal will be criminal, and cops will be cops. Some cops can be both. I respect the ones that do not cross that line, and yes you are underpaid for what you do. I salute the good and uncorrupted ones.
I commend the SWAT officers for doing such a great job protecting the child inside the home. It’s good to know that we have a well-trained SWAT team in times such as these as sad as they are. Officers put their lives on the line each & every day to protect us and do not get the gratitude or PAY they deserve!!!!!
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