Three men have been arrested in connection with a home invasion on Highway 385 outside Bennettsville around 8:30 p.m. Monday, after law enforcement officers tracked them for 15 hours over a ten-mile area. They are still looking for a fourth suspect.
The four men broke into the home and held the homeowner at gunpoint, while Marlboro County Sheriff Fred Knight says they stole guns, electronics, and other items.
The victim's family interrupted the suspects after noticing an unfamiliar car in his yard, according to a release from the sheriff's office.
The suspects ran to their car but it wouldn't start. They were trying to use the victim's car to jump start theirs, when the victim's family blocked the suspects' car and the suspects ran off, the release said.
The suspects' car was towed to the sheriff's office, where deputies say they found several of the victim's firearms inside.
Deputies, investigators, and the bloodhound tracking team searched on the ground for the suspects, while the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office and the State Law Enforcement Division responded with helicopters.
Around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, two of the suspects, Michael Anthony Thompson Jr, AKA Mike Mike, 26, and James Anthony Thompson, aka Man, 27, both of Maxton, NC, were spotted near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. A McColl police officer got one in custody, and the other was captured shortly after by SLED and Marlboro County Sheriff's Office tracking teams.
Just before 9 a.m., a third suspect, Rakeem Rashan Covington, aka Rock, 23, was arrested at his home in Gibson, North Carolina.
All three are charged with Burglary 1st Degree, Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime, Felon in Possession and Larceny.
Deputies are still looking the fourth suspect, King Edward Graham, 26, of Laurinburg, North Carolina. Graham stands 5'11'' and weighs 160 lbs. The sheriff's office says he should be considered armed and dangerous. He is wanted on the same charges as the other three suspects.
Anyone with additional information about this case, including where they can find Graham, is urged to call the sheriff's office at (843) 479-5605.
