Deputies: Robbery suspect’s nine-day crime spree began in Florence

By Mackenzie Taylor
WBTW News13
Published: July 10, 2008

Florence County sheriff’s deputies say robbery suspect Norman Pauling’s nine-day crime spree that crossed at least three states began in Florence.

The deputies said surveillance video footage they obtained from Craig’s Used Cars in Florence shows Pauling stealing a Ford Expedition after first using a Ford Escape to ram the fence. They said the Expedition is the same vehicle he used to flee the area after two violent robberies July 1.

Manning Police Chief Randy Garrett said Pauling first robbed a Wendy’s restaurant in Santee, then robbed a Money Express store on U.S. 301 in Manning.

During the Manning robbery, Garrett said, Pauling put a gun to the clerk’s head and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired.

The suspect also beat the female employee of a nearby movie rental store who tried to come to the clerk’s aid, Garrett said.

After the incidents, Garrett said Pauling headed for the highway in a maroon Ford Expedition reported stolen from Florence County where a chase ensued.

Garrett said Pauling crashed the sport utility vehicle into the car of an officer and fled into the woods near the Turbeville exit off of Interstate 95.

Pauling, 24, was arrested Monday afternoon in Clinton, Okla., where he is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of second-degree burglary with no force, Columbia television station WIS reported.

A $1 million bond was set Wednesday in Custer County, Okla., for his release, WIS reported.

— WBTW News13’s Patricia Burkett contributed to this report.