HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - A man wanted for an alleged sexual assault in a gas station bathroom turned himself in to authorities just hours after detectives released surveillance photos to the public.
According to the press release from Horry County Police, the black male suspect entered the Scotchman on Lake Arrowhead Road shortly before 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 16.
The man picked up a drink and headed to the bathroom, then walked back up to the counter and told the clerk there was something wrong with the plumbing. The clerk walked to the bathroom with him to check it out, and that's when the man forced her in the restroom with a taser, demanding she perform sexual acts.
Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Kegler says the crime occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 5:15 a.m., having been interrupted twice when customers entered the store. Kegler says the suspect, still armed with the taser, remained close to the victim making her afraid to speak up to those customers about what was going on.
"When the act was completed, the suspect fled the scene after taking money from the register," the press release reads.
Detectives with Horry County's Violent Crimes division released a photo of the suspect Wednesday afternoon, and in the following hours received tips from the public about his identity.
The suspect, 30-year-old Bernardo Joseph Evans of Myrtle Beach, then contacted police and arranged to turn himself in at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
Evans has been charged with criminal sexual conduct, armed robbery and kidnapping.
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Man suspected of sexual assault. (Source: Horry County Police)
Man suspected of sexual assault. (Source: Horry County Police)
Bernardo Joseph Evans (Source: J. Reuben Long Detention Center)
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