Homeowner stabs home invasion suspect, Sheriff says

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Attacked by a burglar as she slept in her Tabor City area home early Monday, the homeowner was able to reach a knife and defend herself, sending a Lumberton man to the hospital with serious injuries, Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene said in a news release.

     Warrants will be obtained against the 23 year-old suspect after he is released from the hospital, Chief Deputy Aaron Herring said. Although Greene identified the suspect in his news release, Tabor-Loris Tribune does not typically identify criminal suspects until they have either been charged or a warrant has been obtained for them.

     The suspect was taken by Tabor City Emergency Services to McLeod Loris hospital, and later transferred to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center where he was expected to remain for at least 24 hours, Herring said.

     Deputies called to the 400 block of Lester Watts Road east of Tabor City at about 12:38 a.m. found the 24-year-old homeowner and her injured assailant. “Live-saving procedures” were provided by the Tabor City ambulance crew, Greene said.

     Investigators said the man “assaulted the homeowner as she was sleeping” after breaking into the home, and that the homeowner stabbed her attacker “multiple times.”

     Warrants will be sought for the suspect, Herring said. Charges are not expected against the homeowner.

     Neither the suspect nor victim knew each other, sheriff’s spokeswoman Michelle Tatum said, but the man was in the area because he had been visiting a neighboring home.

     Look for more on this story in the next Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.