Posted on 01/19/2007 6:14:26 AM PST by Crush T Velour
Police are indebted to a woman who shot an armed carjacker in a Wal-Mart parking lot Saturday a suspect in nine other armed robberies, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Tuesday.
Harold Levar Jeffcoat, 29, was arrested Sunday at Providence Hospital Northeast after seeking treatment for a gunshot wound in his buttocks.
Police said a man was shot as he attempted to rob a couple getting into their car outside the Two Notch Road Wal-Mart about 9 p.m. Saturday.
The male victim, whose identity wasnt disclosed, told police the attacker pushed a gray pistol into his stomach and demanded the keys to the car.
The unidentified woman reached into the car and pulled a pistol from the glove box, according to a sheriffs report. She fired five shots at the attacker, who dropped his pistol as he ran away. He fled in a burgundy Buick.
Were kind of hailing (the man and woman) as heroes, Lott said.
He said police dont encourage people to go out and just start shooting, but they do encourage people to protect themselves.
Jeffcoat, who is accused in 10 armed robberies in Richland County and Columbia in less than a month, has an arrest record dating back 12 years.
Jeffcoat, of Palmetto Drive in Columbia, is charged with:
Nine counts of armed robbery
One count grand larceny motor vehicle
One count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, according to information from the Columbia Police and Richland County Sheriffs departments
Lott said more charges are pending.
Jeffcoat is accused of robbing several businesses and individuals between Dec. 19 and Jan. 13, and was the Midlands Most Wanted in The State newspaper Monday.
The sheriffs department released his name and photo last week as a suspect in five armed robberies.
Lott said investigators were able to zero in on Jeffcoat as a suspect because he was identified by people he is accused of robbing.
Thats what made him even more dangerous, Lott said. He knew we were after him and he wasnt concealing his identity and he wasnt slowing down.
Police said he had changed his appearance possibly after learning of warrants for his arrest.
A booking photo taken Sunday shows Jeffcoat with closely cropped hair. But a photograph the sheriffs department released last week showed Jeffcoat with short dread locks.
Two convenience store clerks who were robbed Jan. 8 described the thief as having short or shoulder-length dread locks, according to incident reports.
Jeffcoats record includes convictions for drug possession with intent to distribute in 1995 and second degree burglary in 2005, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.
In 2004, he served one year in jail for violating his probation on a assault and battery charge. He was last arrested in July 2006 on charges of drug possession and distribution near a school. The disposition of those charges is unclear.
Jeffcoat is in custody at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to detention center records.
If she were a border patrol agent and the carjacker were an illegal alien, she'd be looking at a decade or two behind bars.
You got that right.
bttt
My sister and my niece both carry guns in their cars...and would not hesitate to use them...for years I'd tease my sister and call her Annie Oakley...this sounds like something she'd do...
bang
*sigh*
Looks like Crabman.
The only thing I would suggest to the lady that fired would be to spend a little time on the range. She fired 5 times and him once in the ass......love the humor in it, but I had hoped that with 5 shots she would have ended his career....permanently.
... especially if she's going to shoot at perps in public parking lots. Those stray rounds don't care if they hit an innocent bystander. Even a richochet can kill, as John Hinckley will tell you.
Could you describe the perp ?
Yes officer. He has holes here here here and here.
LOL.
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