Carjack, kidnapping, armed robbery, assault all happened during car test drive, police say

Myrtle Beach police found an injured man running down the middle of the street in handcuffs near Ninth Avenue South and Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach Monday afternoon.

The 65-year-old man told them he had been the victim of armed robbery and assault after two men came to a car dealership he was working at and asked to go on a test drive, according to a Myrtle Beach police report.

When police met up with the victim he was wearing a pair of camouflage handcuffs and had some injuries to his head and wrists, police said.

He told officers two men came to the downtown Myrtle Beach car dealership, while he was working, and asked to take a car for a test drive, then kidnapped him.

The victim and two men left in a black Volvo, which was parked at convenience store after the incident. Officers said they could see blood inside, according to the report.

The two men had run in opposite directions after the alleged crimes, police said.

Authorities found one of the men at a Food Lion parking lot on South Kings Highway and took him the Myrtle Beach Jail, the reports states.

Robert Michael Harris, 44, is charged with carjacking, assault/attempted murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to Myrtle Beach Jail records.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment and gave a further account of what happened while there.

He told authorities the two men wanted to take the car for a test drive, but didn’t have their driver’s licenses with them. One suspect told the victim he just wanted to show the car to his wife who worked at Dillard’s, so the victim said he would take them there, the report said.

Once in the Dillard’s parking lot, the victim said he felt two guns on the back of his neck and that Harris pulled a pistol from his backpack and pointed it at the victim’s face, police said.

The men told the victim they wouldn’t hurt him unless they had to, according to the report.

Both suspects then placed the victim in handcuffs, and one suspect slid into the driver’s seat and drove to the Forestbrook area on U.S. 501, then to the Canterbury Apartments off Carolina Forest Boulevard, police said.

A suspect then drove to a gas station on Kings Highway and used the victim’s debit card, took $51, and other credit cards from him, authorities said.

The men then tried to choke the victim, he told police, but he said he was able to break out of their hold, the report states.

Harris then allegedly went into a store to buy rope and tape. The other suspect then drove off to a nearby convenience store, and the victim said he was able to escape the vehicle and took off running, the report says.

Harris was being held at the Myrtle Beach Jail Wednesday morning where his bond had not been set.

This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 9:07 AM with the headline "Carjack, kidnapping, armed robbery, assault all happened during car test drive, police say."