Five held hostage at Seaside Road residence on St. Helena Island
Assailants tie up five people near migrant labor camp, flee in vehicle
Five people, two men and three women, were tied up Saturday afternoon in a Seaside Road residence on St. Helena Island and held hostage. The residence is located near a migrant labor camp where a worker was assaulted last Monday.
One of the victims of the latest incident escaped, called the sheriff’s office and directed investigators to the residence, where the investigators found the four other victims waiting after the assailants fled.
At approximately 6:00 p.m.on Saturday sheriff’s deputies arrived at the Express Lane #2 convenience store, 813 Sea Island Parkway, where they met with a 33-year old man who said he and four other people had been held hostage at the residence located at 341 Seaside Road (see map above).
The residence is located in the immediate vicinity of an assault at a migrant labor camp on Butler Road reported in The Beaufort Tribune last Monday at this link.
The victim said he went to visit friends there earlier in the afternoon. When he walked into the house, a group of unknown Hispanic men armed with handguns and knives grabbed him.
The men punched and kicked him, tied him up, and held him and the others who were already there hostage for several hours.
The victim was able to escape and call for help after the suspects eventually left the house. He was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, treated for cuts to his face and released.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the house where the incident reportedly took place. There they found another man and three women, who said they had also been held hostage. All reported having been tied up and kept inside the residence against their will.
Two of the women said they were sexually assaulted by the perpetrators. They were transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, treated and released.
The victims reported that there were five assailants and that they fled the scene in a silver Trailblazer, possibly displaying a paper dealer license tag.
All five of the perpetrators were described as Hispanic men between the ages of 20 and 30. No further description was available.
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with any information to please contact either Investigator Cpl. J. Kelleher at 843-470-3213 or the Beaufort County dispatch center at 843-470-3217.
Related posts:
- Sheriff’s office investigating attempted carjacking on St. Helena Island yesterday
- Truck hijacked on Lands End Road
- Two juveniles charged in Lady’s Island car break-ins
