Stolen truck leads to a shootout
Valentina Dillard. PHOTO COURTESY OF DCDC
When a Hartsville woman found her stolen truck at a mobile home, it led to a highway gun battle between the woman and the alleged thieves, authorities say. Darlington County sheriff’s deputies on March 3 arrested the woman, Valentina Dillard, no age or address available, and charged her with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to reports. Dillard told law enforcement officers that her truck had earlier been stolen, then she saw it in the Lunn Drive area. She said someone driving her stolen truck backed into the truck she was riding in at the time, according to reports. Dillard’s vehicle then apparently tried to flee down Bobo Newsome Highway, but the suspects in the stolen truck followed, firing shots at Dillard’s vehicle, according to reports. Dillard told deputies she fired back. It’s not clear if anyone in either vehicle was hit. It wasn’t immediately known if other arrests in the case had been made.
