2 charged with armed robbery

SUMTER, S.C. (WOLO)– Sumter Police say two men are in jail after being charged with armed robbery.

Wayne Darrelle Pondexter Jr., and Shaheym Dizaire Freeman were charged after an armed robbery at a local jewelry store led to a multi-agency investigation.

Sumter Police Department officers were called at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, to Kay Jewelers on Broad Street where two armed men wearing face coverings and latex gloves came in and demanded an employee to open a showcase.

Officers say the men then placed an undetermined amount of jewelry into a bag and left.

As the investigation began, officers linked a vehicle seen leaving the parking lot at the time of the robbery to a home in Eastover.

Sumter PD detectives along with the Richland Co. Sheriff’s Dept, Orangeburg Co. Dept of Public Safety and Orangeburg Co. Sheriff’s Office were able to determine that following the armed robbery, the suspects traveled to the home in Eastover, then drove to the Orangeburg area before returning to the home in Eastover where they were placed in custody late
Thursday afternoon.

During the investigation, Orangeburg authorities located and retrieved the stolen merchandise which was sold to a business there, according to the police.

Both Saint Helena Island men are being held in the Sumter County Detention Center.

Also, they are both being charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a weapon by a
felon and criminal conspiracy.

Investigations are continuing in Sumter as well as in Orangeburg and Richland counties.