Officers Say Aiken 4 Teens Beat Man, 2 Other Teens Come to His Rescue

Aiken, SC—It’s a busy street, well-lit at night, with sidewalks. But, officers say the intersection of East Pine Log and Waites Street became a violent spot, early Thursday morning.

The victim, a 47-year-old man, was walking to his nearby home from an all-night grocery store, when officers say he was attacked by four teenagers…

Dashawn Abney and Thomas Davis are 17. The other two teens, officers say, are 16.

Sgt. Aaron Dowdy, Aiken Dept. of Public Safety: “These guys obviously felt like they were empowered…”

Sgt. Dowdy says they beat the man with their fists.

Sgt. Dowdy: “Four to one ratio, obviously the odds were against him. Four people attacked him, going through his pockets.”

The victim says he clutched his grocery bag, and tried to shield himself from the blows.

And then more teenagers showed up, but this time…they came to help.

Sgt. Dowdy: “Something we don’t see very often…”

Officers say two more teens stopped, and got out of their car, got a cell phone to call 911, and the four teens beating the victim got on bikes and rode away.

An officer patrolling nearby spotted them. The victim and the witnesses were taken to Two Notch Road to identify them.

Sgt. Dowdy: “There was somebody who felt like they could make a difference, and they did what they felt was the appropriate thing to do.“

Which made us wonder, how many other ‘Good Samaritans’ would do the same thing?

Joy Howe, reporting: “Middle of the night, four against one. Do you stop and get out?”

Loretta Walker, Aiken: “Well, if it’s just me and my daughter, no. I probably would have called 911 to make sure something with someone on the way, but if I would have had my two younger sons with me my 18-year-old, and my 15-year-old, we would have stopped and seen if we could have given some kind of assistance.“

Nelsa Nobles, Aiken: “Definitely call 911, and make sure somebody got there, but I don’t think I could pull over, and get out and stop anybody from hurting.“

Walker: “Because it could have been me in that situation, and I would have wanted someone to stop and help me and my kids if something was going on like that.“

Sgt. Dowdy: “They were trying to be a Good Samaritan, they felt like they good make a difference, and they did. I know the victim’s grateful they were there, and so are we.“

The victim, the man officers say was attacked by the teens, spoke to us off-camera, Friday. He says he is still bruised and shaken.

We were unable to track down those two ‘Good Samaritans.‘ The victim says he credits them for keeping a bad situation from getting much worse…but all he could do that day was say ‘thank you’, before the strangers drove off.

Officers say all four teenagers accused of beating that man have been charged with strong arm robbery.