Police seek second suspect in Broadway at the Beach assault

Police are searching for one of two men, who reportedly attacked an employee of Joe’s Crab Shack at Broadway at the Beach, while the employee was taking a break outside of the restaurant Saturday night.

One suspect was captured by Broadway security. Another man remains at large.

Myrtle Beach police responded to Broadway at the Beach at 10 p.m. Saturday in reference to a fight.

A cook in the restaurant told officers he was smoking a cigarette and talking to his wife on a cellphone inside a fenced-in employee break area when two men approached him. The cook told police he was crouched down and one of the men standing over him told him “stop talking to my wife.”

The victim replied to the man, who then stated “I’mma tell you something when you hang up that phone,” according to the police report.

The victim told his wife he would call her back, hung up, stood and tried to leave the area, but the men wouldn’t let him pass. One of the suspects “sucker punched” the victim and the other suspect also began striking the victim, according to the report.

The Joe’s Crab Shack employee told police he was struck in the face twice, once by each attacker. He stumbled backward and by the time he regained his balance the two men were running away in opposite directions.

The victim said he chased one of his attackers to the parking lot where the suspect was apprehended by Broadway security.

A witness to the assault said he chased the other suspect to another parking lot where he saw the man jump into a black older model Pontiac G6 bearing a South Carolina license plate ISP902. The witness told police the suspect nearly struck him with the vehicle as he pulled out of the parking spot; police found the tag was registered to a Mercedes, according to the report.

The victim and witness, who works as a waiter at the restaurant, told police they suspected the men may have been trying to rob them “as waiters carry large amounts of cash,” the report stated.

Officers noted swelling around the victim’s right eye. The victim declined a medical transport.

Police charged 50-year-old Jay Anthony Williams with third-degree assault and battery and continue to search for the second suspect. Williams was taken to Grand Strand Medical Center after complaining of chest pains at the scene.

Anyone with information about the assault or the second suspect is asked to call the Myrtle Beach Police Department at 843-918-1382 and reference case 16-004542.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Police seek second suspect in Broadway at the Beach assault."