Man pleads guilty to kidnapping, robbing Upstate college students

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to twenty years in prison for an armed robbery and kidnapping of college students in 2022.

Spartanburg County officials said Tajuan Devon Garrett, of Spartanburg, pleaded guilty Friday for a slew of crimes against two Wofford College students on February 20, 2022.

Investigators said Garrett was armed with a handgun along with a codefendant when they approached the students in a parked vehicle on Wofford’s campus shortly after midnight. Garrett was wearing all black with sunglasses and a ski mask to obscure his face.

Garrett and the codefendant entered the vehicle and separated the students by forcing one of the victims to sit in front of the car and the other to sit in the rear. The victims were threatened to keep their heads down according to officials.

Garrett sat in the back of the vehicle while the codefendant drove the car to Founders Credit Union and Bank of America on East Main Street, investigators said. Money was withdrawn using a bank card that belonged to one of the students.

The suspects drove to another location in the city and took jewelry along with other belongings from the students before walking away with the keys to the vehicle. Later that day, Garrett sold the victims’ phones using a self-serve kiosk in Westgate Mall.

Garrett was apprehended two weeks after the incident. Authorities found distinctive boots the suspect was wearing during the robbery and a stolen pistol in his vehicle.

On August 9, Garrett pleaded guilty to the following:

• Attempted armed robbery (two counts) – Sentenced to 20 years
• Kidnapping (two counts) – Sentenced to 20 years
• Possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime – Sentenced to 5 years
• Possession of a stolen pistol – Sentenced to 5 years
• Unlawful carrying of a handgun – Sentenced to a year
• Receiving stolen goods (two counts) – Sentenced to 30 days
• Obtaining goods by false pretenses (two counts) – Sentenced to 30 days

All of Garrett’s sentences shall be served concurrently with each other according to officials.

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