Third suspect arrested in Columbia, charged in connection with Sumter Street armed robbery

Columbia authorities on Tuesday arrested a third suspect in connection with an armed robbery that happened on Sumter Street in Charleston.

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and Cayce Police Department assisted in the arrest, Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis said.

Brandon Green, 20, of Knotty Pine Road in Summerville, was charged with first-degree burglary, nine counts of armed robbery, four counts of first-degree assault and battery and nine counts of kidnapping, Francis said.

On Feb. 11, three masked men, armed with two pistols and a baseball bat, entered a home at 313 Sumter Street and robbed several residents of their money, cell phones and other electronic equipment, police said.

Police previously arrested DaShawn Heyward, 20, of Chatman Avenue in Hanahan, and Le’Darian Phillips, 20, of Orangeburg Road in Summerville, Francis said.

Heyward was charged with four counts of armed robbery, three counts of first-degree assault and battery, first-degree burglary, four counts of kidnapping, simple possession of marijuana and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, Francis said.

Phillips was charged with nine counts of kidnapping, nine counts of armed robbery, three counts of first-degree assault and battery, first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, Francis said.

Heyward and Phillips are being held at the Charleston County jail, Francis said. Green had not yet been transported to Charleston Tuesday afternoon, he said.