Robbery suspect caught after three day manhunt
Handcuffed and shackled, Christopher O’Neil Strickland is placed on a Tabor City Emergency Services stretcher before being taken to Columbus Regional Healthcare for a medical evaluation Tuesday evening. (Deuce Niven, TLT)
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
A robbery suspect who eluded capture while making his way through a significant stretch of Tabor City during nearly three days was in custody Tuesday evening, caught in a wooded area off of Canal Street, the focus of much of the search effort.
Christopher O’Neil Strickland, 44, was taken into custody in an area of heavy brush also bordered by Miriam Lane and Lakeside Drive, pushed there after he was reported near the Vasco convenience store across East 5th Street from the Tabor City Police Department, Chief Kevin Fowler said.
In a relatively brief period before his capture Strickland had made his way from McDee Street near U.S. 701 Bypass, crossed that highway and entered a wooded area behind Food Lion, then reversed course and made his way to the Vasco, Fowler said.
Dixie Youth baseball games at the Tabor City Sports Complex, behind Food Lion, were impacted.
“The decision was made to have everyone exit the fields for public safety,” Fowler said.
“One thing we know after the last three days is that he can make some time and cover some ground through the woods,” Fowler said. “Over the past three days he has continuously gravitated back to the Canal Road area, Ten Mile Road and Ridge Road.”
Fowler said Strickland’s capture came as manhunt intensified, including significant effort from the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office including K-9 Officers, and drone teams from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction at Tabor Correctional Institution, the Tabor City Fire Department, and the Columbus County Fire Marshal’s Office.
Ultimately it was citizens reporting sightings that resulted in Strickland’s capture, especially the report that he was spotted near the Vasco.
“When we got confirmation that he was there, he ran back through the woods like he had some man times, and he was caught on Canal.”
Strickland was evaluated by a Tabor City Emergency Services crew minutes after his capture, and taken to Columbus Regional Healthcare in Whiteville for an Emergency Department evaluation, Fowler said.
“Once’s he’s cleared at the hospital he will be taken to the Columbus County Detention Center and booked,” Fowler said.
Strickland will be charged on warrants obtained by Tabor City police for at least two previous break-ins in addition to several other break-ins during the three day manhunt, Fowler said.
Horry County Police also have warrants, including some related to the beginning of the manhunt, when Strickland allegedly backed his car into a Tabor City police car that had pulled up behind him on Carolina Road just across the state line, Chief Fowler and Maj. Christopher Hilburn said earlier Tuesday.
Look for much more on this story in Wednesday’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
