A Hephzibah man is behind bars on three counts of kidnapping after a bizarre incident early Wednesday at the Circle K on Tobacco Road.
Randy Lavert Carthern Sr., 36, allegedly held three people against their will. He was armed at 5 a.m. Wednesday when he walked into the Hephzibah convenience store, according to a sheriff’s report.
A victim said the suspect placed a 9 mm handgun on the counter along with a birth certificate, social security card and a piece of paper with the name Chris and a phone number on it. “The military is coming to get me,” Carthern reportedly said.
The suspect told the woman and two men to go to the back as he locked the doors to the store. But he then ordered one man to leave the store or he would “pop his ass,” a report says.
“He stated either that he killed his family or someone had killed his family,” a report says.
A sheriff’s report is not clear on how the incident ended, but Carthen was later arrested for the kidnapping charges as well as a weapon possession offense. He remained in jail on Thursday night.
