Hostage escapes standoff

IAN CURCIO

Buy photo Saroj Patel runs from her store unharmed after the daylong ordeal.

A hostage situation at a south-side convenience store ended almost 13 hours after it began with neither the hostage nor her captor suffering major, life-threatening injuries.

The incident followed a traffic stop that resulted in Jimmy Colon Johnson, 35, running from officers with a semiautomatic gun about 8 a.m. It ended with Johnson being pulled out of the Fast Point Food Store at 806 S. Church St. after a SWAT team member shot him in the shoulder while he appeared to struggle with hostage Saroj Patel while holding a gun.

Spartanburg Public Safety decided to have a front-end loader breach the building twice to force Johnson out and to free Patel.

Spartanburg Public Safety Director Tony Fisher said it was decided to bring the front-end loader in after Johnson made threats to harm Patel and police officers. Fisher said Johnson fired at least 10 shots out of the store toward officers.

Capt. Randy Hardy said that when the front-end loader created a hole on the left side of the building, Johnson ran to the other side of the store with Patel.

Fisher said SWAT team members couldn't reach Johnson and Patel.

The front-end loader was then taken to the right side of the building. About 10 minutes after the building was breached a second time, Patel came out about 8:40 p.m. after a dramatic struggle with Johnson ended with Johnson being shot by a SWAT team member.

Johnson was carried out about five minutes later with a wound to his right shoulder.

"It was a critical hit by one of our SWAT team members who is a trained sniper," said Fisher of the shot fired by Master Patrol Officer Brian Stokes, a 15-year veteran with the Spartanburg Public Safety Department.

Fisher said the shot was the most critical he'd seen in his 32 years in law enforcement.

The police command staff had conversations with Patel throughout the day, Fisher said. He said she followed Johnson's directions and seemed to have a trusting relationship with him, but they could hear her scream, plead and cry many times.

"There was a lot of pain in her conversations, and pleading," Fisher said.

She held signs to the window periodically, including some asking for phones to be sent. Fisher said two robots were used to deliver the phones. One was from the State Law Enforcement Division and the other came from Florence. The robots delivered telephones after cell phones died, and eventually delivered a conventional phone that Patel could be seen crawling out of the store to get at about 6:45 p.m.

Both robots contained cameras.

Patel, 41, was not believed to be seriously injured, but was taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center as a precaution.

Johnson was taken to SRMC to be treated for the gunshot wound. He faces charges of kidnapping, assault with intent to kill, discharging a firearm, and shooting at officers. He also faces charges from the traffic stop.

According to an incident report, Public Safety Officer George Clark initiated the traffic stop after observing a gold Honda Civic driven by Johnson with an expired license plate at the intersection of South Forest Street and Crescent Avenue. A train was going through nearby railroad tracks and Clark waited for the train to pass before turning his blue lights on. After crossing the train tracks, Johnson pulled into the parking lot of El Bethel United Methodist Church.

According to the report, Johnson got out of the car and Clark told him to stay inside. He eventually got back out of the car and Clark told him stand behind the car and place his hands on the trunk so he could be patted down to search for weapons.

Johnson then ran across South Church Street. Then he ran across the intersection of Bomar Avenue and South Church Street before running back across South Church Street where officers could see him carrying a gun before entering the Fast Point store.

About six hours after Johnson locked himself into the store, which authorities said did not have a back exit, a robot operated by an agent with the State Law Enforcement Division was brought to send a cell phone to the front door of the store.

But Johnson did not take the bait and open the door.

Hardy said electricity to the building was shut off early in the morning. By 5 p.m., attempts were made to get the power restored and to run a telephone line into the building.

Relatives of the man inside were at the scene and had talked to the man by telephone. His aunt and his sister would not talk to the media.

"At one point, when a relative was talking to him, the phone went dead. We did not pursue that line of communication further," Hardy said.

But officers were able to talk to Patel soon to be sure she was safe.

More than a dozen tactical or SWAT team members were suited up and took turns stationed outside the front door.

Hardy said the SWAT unit from the Spartanburg County Detention Center was assisting by giving the city tactical team a break.

"With this temperature and the heat from their suits, they have to switch out every 45 minutes or so," he explained.

Several crews and ambulances from SRMC took turns standing by throughout the day.

Andrea Carter said she pumped gas early in the morning before the hostage situation developed.

"I was maybe five minutes getting away from there. That's something to think about. I understand he did time and had just been released from prison," Carter said.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways," said Gail Woodruff, who waited nearby with Carter as both hoped for a safe resolution. "I'm sure you'll agree," she said to Carter.

At times, the crowd of as many as 50 people near Palisade Street, which is off South Church Street, was kept at a distance from the store equal to about two football fields.

Crowds also assembled on Bomar Avenue, which is across from Fast Point.

Early in the morning, the gunman or the clerk had put paper over the windows beside the front door.

Hardy said the gunman had not made any substantial demands.

Earlier in the day, Hardy said he had not threatened Mrs. Patel's life.

"He knows her. And he is familiar with the store, the layout," Hardy said.

Hardy said that although Mrs. Patel is diabetic she was holding up. "She's controlling her diabetes through diet. She's OK," he said.

Isaiah Gory who watched the front of the store from a distance said he knew the suspect but would not confirm his name.

"No. I'd rather not. But if you had three cops with 9-mms behind you, wouldn't you run?" he asked.

Traffic was diverted several blocks around the store from Caulder Avenue through Arkwright.

But Hardy said area residents were not in danger, although several businesses remained closed throughout the day.

"Preserving life is paramount to us. We don't want to lose anyone. We'll stay until we have a peaceful resolution," Hardy said.

Bryan Swensen said he heard about the standoff and out of curiosity came to see what was happening. He had binoculars and passed them back and forth to people standing close to him.

"I can see the tactical team. That's about it," he said.

Shayla Willson said she lives nearby and also came to find out what was going on.

"There's just too much going on in the community," she said. "You know those two boys got shot recently up on Union Street."

Seventy-two-year-old Eddie Garner found a shaded spot and watched the people although he did not have a good view of the store's front door.

After taking a break from the heat, he returned to his place on the short wall in front of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System's Southside Family Practice that had remained closed all day.

"It's dangerous. Especially at night. People need to go on home and go to bed," he said.

Fisher said SLED would investigate the actions of the SWAT team and the Public Safety Department.

Stokes will be placed on administrative leave as part of a routine procedure.

Friends said Patel has owned the store for about 1 1/2 years, and officials said Johnson knew her from the store.

"She was strong and she was courageous until the end," Fisher said.

A public safety official said Johnson was released from prison more than a month ago. He has 15 arrests on his record, not including Monday's. His charges vary from simple possession of marijuana to grand larceny and armed robbery.

Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnet also thanked all of those involved in bringing the situation to an end without a major tragedy.

"Our hearts go out to Mrs. Patel and her family," Barnet said. "I can't tell you how much each of us stayed glued to the TV and prayed for the outcome you accomplished."

Fisher commended Randy Benson, of the Spartanburg Department of Public Works, for risking his life by driving the front-end loader and thanked all of those who assisted, including Public Safety SWAT team members and those from the Spartanburg County Detention Center and EMS, the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, a counselor from the state mental health department who helped negotiators, parole and probation officers, Duke Power, and the Spartanburg Public Works Department.

Dudley Brown can be reached at 562-7426 or dudley.brown@shj.com.

Janet Spencer can be reached at 562-7222 or janet.spencer@shj.com.