<b>Yemassee man guilty of 2010 home invasion  </b>

A 27-year-old Yemassee man was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Friday, November 22 for a 2010 home invasion in which three suspects held a family captive while they ransacked the house, searching for cash and other valuables.

Jurors convicted Marion Powell on all counts: first-degree burglary, armed robbery, possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime and five counts of kidnapping. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

On October 25, 2010, Powell and two other suspects burst into a home on Oakesdale Road. They first encountered two children playing in the backyard and forced them inside the house at gunpoint. They then rounded up another two children and headed upstairs to find the mother. The four children, ages 4 to 10, were ordered to sit outside the bedroom, while the defendant and another suspect forced the woman to the ground and screamed that if they didn’t get money, they would kill her.

The woman retrieved $2,200 in cash from the closet. The intruders continued to hold the family at gunpoint while they tore apart the home looking for other items of value. They stole designer handbags, women’s shoes and jewelry.

Powell was identified in police photo line-ups by both the mother and her child. He was arrested in March 2011.

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<b>Two teen burglary suspects arrested </b>

Two teens were arrested Wednesday, November 13 following a failed burglary attempt at a St. Helena Island home.

Brent Elliott Doddridge, 18, of St. Helena Island, and Logan James Phillips, 18, of Hilton Head Island were arrested shortly after attempting to break into a home at 169 Sea Pines Drive.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported burglary in progress, called in by a 63-year-old homeowner. The victim advised that at approximately 1:45 p.m. she was inside her home when she noticed two unknown white males, wearing bandanas over their faces, walking through her front yard. She became concerned and called 911 when they jumped over the fence into her backyard.

While deputies were responding, she saw the subjects jump back over the fence and run towards a dark blue sedan parked in a wooded area beside her home. As deputies converged on the area, a dark blue Volkswagon Jetta occupied by two white males was observed driving on Coffin Point Road near Cee Cee Road.

A traffic stop was initiated and contact was made with Doddridge and Phillips. Both were positively identified as the suspects the victim had seen in her backyard. Doddridge and Phillips were also identified in three additional burglaries reported over the last two weeks on Lady’s Island.

At this time both men have been charged with the following:

• Attempted Housebreaking (169 Sea Pines Drive on Nov. 18, 2013)

• Burglary first degree (25 Marsh Hawk Drive on Nov. 13, 2013)

• Burglary second degree (26 Pleasant Place Drive on Nov. 7, 2013)

• Burglary second degree (14 Woods Lane on Nov. 6, 2013).

The investigation remains ongoing and additional charges may be pending. Anyone with information is asked to contact either Investigator A. Zsamar at 843-255-3408 or Crimestoppers.

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<b>Sheriff’s Office investigating robbery  </b>

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a home invasion and robbery that occurred Sunday, Nov. 24, at a Burton home.

Deputies responded to 1 Wellena Court at 5 p.m. in reference to a reported armed robbery. Upon arrival, deputies met with four victims who advised that they had been robbed when three unknown black males made entry to the home. All three suspects were described as black males between the ages of 25-30, all wearing scarves over their faces. One was reportedly wearing a white hooded sweatshirt, and the other two were wearing black hooded sweatshirts.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to contact either Investigator Sgt. C. Wilson at 843-255-3409 or Crimestoppers.