PRESS RELEASE
April 6, 2016
FCSO TRACKING TEAM
On March 27, 2016 (Easter Sunday) at approximately 2:30 PM deputies with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for assistance from a DNR officer on Blackstreet Road near Pamplico, SC. According to the DNR officer, suspects had freshly broken into the Pinewood Hunt Club clubhouse and were likely still in the area. A vehicle believed to have been used in the break-in was stuck in the mud nearby and the DNR officer had spotted several suspects running into the wood. The FCSO Tracking Team was activated and after approximately three and a half hours of tracking, apprehended three suspects within the established perimeter of over 1000 acres. These three suspects informed deputies that a fourth suspect was still at large and in possession of a firearm. As deputies knew the identity of this suspect, the search was suspended and alternate means of apprehension utilized so as not to unnecessarily endanger officers or the suspect. This suspect was later apprehended without incident. All four suspects have been charged with burglary.
The photograph circulated on the internet of FCSO Tracking Team members and the three recently apprehended suspects was provided to the canine trainer from whom FCSO obtains tracking canines out of Edisto Island, SC. Similar photographs from other successful tracks have been provided for this trainer and posted by him on his Facebook Page. These photographs are also available for review. All photographs are taken and forwarded to the trainer without regard to race, gender or ethnicity of the suspects. The faces of the suspects are blurred by the trainer prior to being posted, and the names of the suspects are not provided.
“This highly successful Tracking Team is trained to national standards and allows for the swift location of missing children, wandering Alzheimer’s victims as well as the apprehension of criminal suspects,” Sheriff Kenney Boone stated. “Florence County Sheriff’s Office does not disseminate any information which would violate privacy or otherwise infringe on a suspect’s rights to a fair trial.”
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Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/P.I.O.
