Blue Light Special | Hide ‘n seek of wife costs man $47K

Woman lets man in apartment, gets assaulted

A suspect was arrested after a woman reported a man came inside her apartment and allegedly tried to assault her, according to a police report.

Robert Earnest Mobley, 29, is charged with assault with intent to commit first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and first-degree burglary, Myrtle Beach jail records show.

Myrtle Beach officers were called about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday to an apartment complex on the 6200 block of Blynn Drive, off 62nd Avenue North, after a neighbor said she heard a woman screaming loudly, police said.

The 25-year-old victim told police prior to the alleged attack, she heard someone knocking on her door about 1 a.m. and saw Mobley standing outside when she answered.

At this point, you don't answer the door.

She said she didn’t know him, but decided to go right ahead and talk to a stranger at 1 in the morning. He asked if her boyfriend was there, a reassuring question, and she told him she lived alone, that she always leaves the back door unlocked and the knife drawer is the third one from the left in the kitchen.

He then asked if he could use her phone because his mother was having a stroke, according to the victim. She said she told him he could, and Mobley asked to come inside her apartment several times, authorities said.

The victim told him no several times because it was late, and she didn’t know him. Mobley then told her he was cold and sick and stepped inside her home, according to the report.

Once inside, the victim said Mobley used her phone and her bathroom then thanked her and walked toward the door as if he was leaving; however, he slammed the front door shut instead and grabbed her from behind by the neck in a chokehold. She said Mobley told her to be quiet and not scream, authorities said.

The victim told police she fought him off twice and bit Mobley’s hand and scratched him. She said he grabbed her phone and she started screaming as loud as she could, police said.

The victim was able to get outside and Mobley followed after her still grabbing at her as she ran screaming, police said.

She was still screaming when neighbors came outside, and Mobley then ran from the scene, authorities said.

A 22-year-old female neighbor at the apartment complex told police Mobley came to her door as well. She said she recognized Mobley as someone she’d seen spending time with people at an apartment unit there. Running with a rough crowd, if you will.

Mobley asked for help, and she told him her boyfriend would be home soon and that he could help him, which was the right answer. The neighbor also said she spoke with Mobley briefly then went back inside her home.

A short time later she heard a woman screaming very loudly and called 911, authorities said.

Police went to the apartment where Mobley allegedly knew the occupants and two men and a woman let them inside to search for him, but he was not there, police said.

However, authorities obtained his information, and he was later located and arrested at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to jail records. Details of his arrest were not available in the report.

Mobley is being held at the Myrtle Beach Jail awaiting a bond hearing.

‘Most expensive game of hide-and-seek’ ends with conviction

A North Carolina man accused of communicating a false distress message by saying his wife was missing along the Grand Strand — a report that sparked a three-day search — as his wife fled to avoid criminal charges in their home state pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Florence.

This is a prime case as to why we need more businesses in the Myrtle Beach area. People get bored, do stupid shit like this.

Paul David Arrington, 46, and Amy Lynette Arrington, 44, have each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to communicate a false distress message.

United States Attorney Bill Nettles said in a news release Wednesday that Amy Arrington had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison and was ordered to pay $47,597.80 in restitution, thus ending the most expensive game of hide-and-seek in the history of the world. Her husband will be sentenced after his pre-sentence reports are prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Paul Arrington reported his wife missing in North Myrtle Beach on July 5, 2014, telling authorities he saw his wife on the beach and then could not find her after leaving and returning a few minutes later. The report of a possible drowning sparked a three-day manhunt with the Coast Guard and had rescuers combing the area and waters for any signs of Amy Arrington.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearings established that Paul and Amy Arrington conspired to fake the disappearance in order for Amy Arrington to avoid having to face charges pending against her in Mecklenburg County, N.C., according to the release. On July 5, 2014, the couple drove from Gastonia, N.C., to North Myrtle Beach where Amy Arrington went into the water for a short period, then, as planned, left the beach and made her way to Florida while rescuers began to search.

Law enforcement agencies eventually detected the fraud because, duh, and Amy turned herself in to authorities in North Carolina. The couple was charged by South Carolina authorities in connection with the missing person report.

Officials said last year that they spent at least $50,000 on the search. The U.S. Coast Guard spent about $42,465.05, including $30,970.10 to fly the Air Station Savannah from the facility in Charleston. Translation: PLEASE no one go missing, this is why taxes are so high.

North Myrtle Beach spent $8,192.88, which included a $190 hotel room for Paul Arrington on July 5 through the victims advocate program. The cost of 81 personnel involved in the search, including 59 lifeguards, is an estimated $4,102.57, said Pat Dowling, spokesman for North Mytle Beach.

Back in North Carolina, Amy Arrington pleaded guilty to a number of charges including identity theft and being a habitual felon (is that in itself a crime) and was sentenced to between nine and 11 years and 10 months in prison.

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Blue Light Special | Hide ‘n seek of wife costs man $47K."