Crime

SC man who used Grindr to commit 2018 robberies arrested in Utah, solicitor says

James Louis Martin, 47, of Clayton, has been charged with multiple felony counts for taking indecent liberties and exposing himself to three minors, ages 8, 9 and 10, according to a spokesperson for the town of Clayton.
James Louis Martin, 47, of Clayton, has been charged with multiple felony counts for taking indecent liberties and exposing himself to three minors, ages 8, 9 and 10, according to a spokesperson for the town of Clayton. The Sun News file photo

A Loris man who has been convicted of two armed robberies using a social media platform in 2018 was arrested in Utah, according to Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson’s office.

Dlanor Tilton, 22, was taken into custody Thursday as a fugitive, the Friday news release states.

Tilton was charged in connection to the robberies on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, 2018, in the Myrtle Beach area. Prosecutors said he used Grindr, a dating app for the LGBTQ community, to find his victims.

After Tilton’s July conviction, he didn’t turn up for his trial, according to the release.

“Phil Phillips with (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) and members of the U.S. Marshals spent the last five months searching for Tilton and found him in Utah where he was playing in a local football league,” Assistant Solicitor Joshua Holford said in the release.

It states Mazar Sturdivant, 21, was also convicted in connection to the December robberies. The Myrtle Beach man was sentenced in July to 10 years in prison.

Both of their victims were tourists.

MB
Maya Brown
The Sun News
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