Police arrest man in armed robbery

A Florence man was arrested Thursday in connection with an Aug. 1 armed robbery, Florence Police Maj. Carlos Raines said.

Jarvis Nathan McNeal, 23, of 126 Toledo Scales Road is charged with armed robbery, Florence County Detention Center bookings reports show.

Police said the suspect attacked two people with a blunt object as they stood outside his apartment complex. He fled the scene with a briefcase containing money, Raines said.

Investigators searched the suspect’s residence and found evidence that he was a co-conspirator in a financial theft ring dating back to July, Raines said.

The theft ring involved several vehicle break-ins at the Florence Family YMCA, where checkbooks, wallets and purses containing personal information were taken.

Investigators think Darris Lee Johnson Jr., 26, of 561 Sweetbriar Road, Lamar, was working with McNeal and several others, Raines said. Johnson faces larceny, financial identity fraud, financial transaction card theft, financial transaction card fraud and forgery charges when captured.

Anthony Dingle, 21, of 1532 Isabella Road is charged with damaging or tampering with a vehicle in connection with the break-ins, Raines said.

A fourth suspect, Christian Hammond Jones of Winston-Salem, N.C., was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Marion for the Darlington Police Department.

McNeal, Dingle and Jones remain in custody at the jail in Effingham awaiting bond hearings scheduled for today.

The Lake City and Hartsville police departments also investigated the theft ring, Raines said.