Springfield Teen Charged with Armed Robbery

SPRINGFIELD, S.C. (PRESS RELEASE) – A Springfield teen has been charged with armed robbery after a man’s car was stolen at gunpoint Thursday,

Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said a 15-year-old male was taken into custody after an all-day search immediately following the robbery.

“We put teams on this immediately canvassing the Springfield area looking for this man’s car and the suspect,” the sheriff said. “Not long into the investigation, information was provided as to the subject’s name.”

The juvenile was taken into custody late Thursday after Orangeburg County Sheriff’s investigators put out a description of the subject earlier in the day. He was spotted along Highway 3 in Barnwell County by sheriff’s deputies in that jurisdiction.

The teen will now go before a Family Court judge for a detention hearing, which will determine if he will await adjudication of his case at the Department of Juvenile Justice or at home.

OCSO deputies were called just before 11 a.m. after a 74-year-old Orangeburg County man reported being held at gunpoint while a subject demanded his car keys.

Deputies arrived at the Skyland Drive location to find a very shaken victim who said his assailant threatened to kill him if he didn’t give him the car keys. The victim said he told the teen armed with a rifle the keys were in the car and pleaded with him not to kill him.

After making several demands for the car keys and being told they were in the car, the subject ran to the victim’s vehicle, got in and sped off.

Investigators learned the teen had driven into Barnwell County where he was crashed the car after failing to negotiate a curve.

Barnwell County tracking teams searched the wooded area around the crash site extensively for about six hours before making contact just after 8 p.m.