Charges include kidnapping, armed robbery
The Landrum Police Department and Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office arrested four Landrum residents in connection with a home invasion that occurred on March 4.
Two of the suspects were charged with kidnapping and armed robbery, among other charges, as they are accused of taking a 78-year-old man hostage in his home.
Jamie Joseph Powell, 30, and Brittney Christine Sloboda, 20, both of 103 Shady Lane, Landrum, were each charged with burglary first degree, kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Also charged were Shannon Thompson Metcalf, 43, of 2242 Asheville Highway, Landrum, and Angela G. Horton, 46, of 5923 N. Highway 14, Landrum. Metcalf and Horton were charged with one count each of receiving stolen goods over $2,000 in value.
The suspects were arrested shortly after midnight yesterday, Monday, March 14, at the residence of Powell and Sloboda at 103 Shady Lane in Landrum.
Just after 11 p.m. on March 4, 2011, according to the police report, a 78-year-old Landrum resident answered the door to a female who asked to use his telephone because her car had broken down. After the victim pointed out where the phone was located and turned the television volume down, “a white male came in and grabbed [the victim] from behind and knocked him to the floor, holding him there against his will and restricting him from moving,” says the report.
The female took watches, pins and coins from various areas of the house and medicine from the bathroom that belonged to the victim’s late wife, according to the police report. Both suspects were allegedly wearing bandanas and gloves. The female suspect was wearing her bandana on her hair until after she entered the house when she pulled it over her face, according to the police report.
After the female suspect took items from different rooms of the house, the suspects made the victim go into the back bedroom and told him to sit on the bed, according to the police report. The report said the suspects went into another bedroom and stole two knives, then told the victim to stay in the bedroom and ran out of the house in an unknown direction.
Landrum Police Chief Bruce Shelnut said some stolen items have already been recovered and others are in the process of being recovered.
“I’ve been here since 1992 and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Shelnut.
Shelnut said the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office has been very helpful in assisting Landrum with the investigation.
“Police officers and sheriff’s investigators have been working non-stop since this crime was first reported, gathering information, collecting evidence and identifying these suspects as the ones responsible for this crime,” stated a press release sent from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.
All four suspects were still being held in the Spartanburg County detention center as of Monday afternoon, March 14.