# Police Chase Man to Home, Standoff Ensues in South Carolina



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

AP Photo/The Sun News, Randall Hill
Horry County police and South Carolina Highway Patrol officers pat down standoff suspect Jonathan Turner, 59, on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, in Socastee, S.C. Turner kept officers at bay while holed up in his home for a 24-hour standoff which started Wednesday afternoon. The suspect escaped to his home after driving away from a state trooper who tried to stop him

*PAUL NELSON*
_Story by Myrtle Beach Sun News_

A Socastee man remained holed up inside his residence late Wednesday night, refusing to surrender to authorities after driving away from a state trooper who tried to stop him earlier in the day.

Horry County police negotiators tried for several hours to persuade Jonathan Turner, 59, to leave his residence at 4491 Misty Lane.

The county's Specialized Emergency Response Team also was on standby as neighbors along the quiet dead-end street made up mostly of families and retirees watched the drama unfold.

Shortly before 5 p.m., a state trooper attempted to stop Turner on S.C. 544 not far from where the Vietnam veteran lives, said Andy Christenson with the Horry County police.

Turner refused and drove to his Misty Lane residence, followed by the trooper, Christenson said.

At some point, Turner presented a shotgun before retreating inside his home. The officer called for backup, Christenson said.

Houses on either side of Turner's home were evacuated, he said.

Though it was unclear why the trooper tried to pull over Turner, Christenson said he had fake S.C. prisoner-of-war tags on his car, which may have caught the officer's attention.

Several neighbors described Turner as a divorced father who worked on cars and had strong anti-government sentiments. One of them, Jim Melton, 69, said Turner stopped a cable company several years ago from laying down underground wires on the block by pretending to be a lawyer representing the neighborhood.

"Everything they tried to put down through here, he had something to say about it and tries to prevent it," Melton said.

More recently, Turner had objected to Time Warner Cable crews putting paint markings on the ground in advance of building and replacing underground cables, neighbors said.

Distributed by the Associated Press


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