Taylor's attorney speaks about dropped charges

Conway, SC - CONWAY, SC (WMBF) – One day after kidnapping and assault charges against his client were dropped, Scott Joye, Timothy Shaun Taylor's attorney, has made a statement on behalf of Taylor.

"On behalf of our client Timothy Shaun Taylor, Billy Jenkinson and I want to express our gratitude to the Myrtle Beach Police Department, Solicitor Greg Hembree and Senior Assistant Solicitor Donna Elder in dismissing the charges against Mr. Taylor," said Joye of Joye, Nappier & Risher, LLC.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department had requested the charges against Taylor be dropped, according to officials with the Horry County Solicitor's office Wednesday.

Officials with the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office said Senior Assistant Solicitor Donna Elder received the request from MB Police, and after reviewing the investigative report, agreed to dismiss the charges.

Timothy Shaun Taylor, 37, of McClellanville, had been arrested in connection to an attempted abduction of 20-year-old Randa Massey in Myrtle Beach on July 21.

Massey told police she was walking to a nearby mini-mart when a van approached her from behind. Two men grabbed her by the waist and arms and attempted to pull her inside of an open van door.

She was able to successfully escape after throwing an elbow at one of the suspects, hitting him in the face. He and two others fled the area by the van.

Taylor turned himself in to police on July 28.

Officials with the Solicitor's Office said while probable cause was sufficient to obtain arrest warrants for Taylor, further investigation of the incident revealed Taylor was elsewhere during the time of the attempted abduction.

MBPD were able to verify this through surveillance tapes.

The investigation into this attempted kidnapping is ongoing.

The following is the entire statement Scott Joye made to WMBF News on behalf of Timothy Shaun Taylor:

"On behalf of our client Timothy Shaun Taylor, Billy Jenkinson and I want to express our gratitude to the Myrtle Beach Police Department, Solicitor Greg Hembree, and Senior Assistant Solicitor Donna Elder in dismissing the charges against Mr. Taylor.  Both Billy Jenkinson and I worked very hard in following through on the information that our client had given us. We were able to verify his story that he was 40 miles away at the time of this alleged incident. As criminal defense attorneys, this is one of those rare instances where we advised him to fully cooperate with law enforcement in their investigation because we believed in what Mr. Taylor told us from day one.  Through his cooperation, and the diligence of both the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office and Myrtle Beach Police, Mr. Taylor's  story was verified and justice was done.  We are extremely happy that Mr. Taylor's charges are dismissed as he is truly innocent of the charges that had been brought against him."

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