They shot at North Myrtle Beach cops after a bank robbery. Now they’re facing prison time
Three men who shot at police as they fled a North Myrtle Beach bank robbery in 2016 will spend at least 15 years in prison.
Sentences for Lance Hardiman, Justin Pressley and Rodrick Berklery, all 28, were recently handed down in federal court. Hardiman was sentenced to 40 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of armed bank robbery, witness tampering, being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Pressley pleaded guilty to using a firearm in furtherance of an armed bank robbery and was sentenced to about 15 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina. Berklery was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and using a firearm in furtherance of witness tampering.
In May 2016, the three men robbed the South State Bank in North Myrtle Beach. They forced tellers to empty their tills and threatened people’s lives. The trio got more than $30,000 and fled.
North Myrtle Beach police spotted the robbers’ car and chased, federal officials say. Pressley fired an AK-47 out of the back of the window and Hardiman shot out of the passenger window. The chase went through a residential community as speeds exceeded 80 mph.
The three traveled toward Longs where they continued to shoot at police and hit a police cruiser twice. One round missed an officer by an inch, federal investigators said. The officer thought he was shot and crashed his vehicle.
The three suspects lost control as officers tried to stop them with spike strips and fled from their car into a wooded area.
A manhunt ensued and officers found the suspects within several hours.
This story was originally published June 3, 2019 at 1:12 PM.
