He stopped at a Fort Mill church to help; then someone held a gun to his back

Police are looking for information after a man said he was robbed at gunpoint at a Fort Mill church on Thursday.

The Fort Mill man, 30, called police shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday. He said on his drive home from work in Rock Hill, he noticed a man standing on the road in front of Dobys Bridge Presbyterian Church trying to flag down cars. The driver told police he stopped to help.

“He just got flagged down, as if someone was needing assistance,” said Maj. Bryan Zachary with the Fort Mill Police Department.

According to the police report, the victim started connecting jumper cables provided by the suspect after being told a car battery was dead. As he was connecting them, the victim felt a blunt object being held to his back. He believed it was a gun.

The suspect reached in the victim’s pant pockets and took about $260, the report said. The suspect then left, headed toward Indian Land.

Police don’t have a license plate number, but they do have a list of specifics on the suspect.

“He gave a pretty good description of the suspect and the vehicle,” Zachary said. “That information has been disseminated to see if there’s any similar crimes in the area.”

The suspect is described as a 6-foot black male, wearing a torn blue t-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers. He is estimated to be mid 40s and is missing teeth on both sides of his top front teeth. He was clean shaven with short hair.

Officers also are looking for an older model tan Chevrolet with a dent behind the driver’s side rear door. The car had sun damage on the hood.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call 803-547-2022 or 877-409-4321.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 10:02 AM with the headline "He stopped at a Fort Mill church to help; then someone held a gun to his back."