4 involved in SC chase, shootout after robbing Waxhaw Verizon

WAXHAW, N.C. — Police said three of four suspects accused of robbing a Waxhaw Verizon store were taken into custody following a chase and shootout near Columbia, South Carolina late Friday night.

Investigators said two men walked into the Verizon store on North Broome Street around 9 p.m., tying up an employee before stealing a large amount of electronics from the store.

They ran out the back door, where police said a getaway driver was waiting.

About an hour later, a South Carolina state trooper spotted the suspect vehicle, a silver Toyota Camry, and chased it down Interstate 77, near Columbia.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said that the chase lasted for more than 80 miles, with speeds that exceeded 100 mph.

During the high-speed chase, officials said that someone in the Camry fired several shots at the trooper before the car crashed on a median off of Killian Road. Video from A&E showed the aftermath of the crash.

(Photo courtesy A&E)

"He was being shot at,” said Lott. “There was no doubt in his mind and other troopers who were with him he was getting shot at. And so that's a dangerous situation, any time anybody is firing at anybody, particular the law enforcement."

The four suspects ran off but state troopers and Richland County deputies caught 20-year-old Paul Walker shortly after the wreck. Officers found two others, Malik Gadist, 20 and Julius Washington, 26, a while later at a Comfort Inn on Bush River Road.

(Walker, Gadist and Washington)

Authorities also arrested a woman, Sandra Mack, 27, who they said picked up Gadist and Washington after the crash and took them to the hotel.

A fourth suspect still remains at large and that person's name has not been released.

Another person was also detained at the Comfort Inn but it was determined that they were not a suspect in the case.

Deputies said they found a handgun inside the Camry, along with numerous stolen cellphones and iPads.

(Photo courtesy A&E)

Walker, Gadist and Washington have been charged with the armed robbery in Waxhaw, and more charges from the Highway Patrol are forthcoming.

Mack has been charged with obstruction of justice after the fact of attempted murder and accessory after the fact of armed robbery.

(Sandra Mack)

No troopers were hurt.

The suspects are being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and Lott said they were also suspects in multiple armed robberies in both South Carolina and North Carolina.

Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the fourth suspect.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

Cox Media Group