HAMPTON, S.C. (April 9, 2025) – A 38-year-old Estill man is headed to prison after trying to steal a truck at gunpoint outside an Estill hardware store, only to have the car’s 73-year-old owner fight him off.
A Hampton County General Sessions Court jury on April 1 found Barry Smart Jr. guilty of attempted armed robbery. The panel of seven men and five women also found Smart guilty of attempting to take a vehicle by force and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.
“While I would not necessarily recommend the same course of action for someone being robbed at gunpoint, the man this defendant threatened simply refused to be a victim,” said Reed Evans of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “He not only warded off the attack, he and other onlookers proved to be reliable witnesses, as the jury’s verdict reflects.”
Barry Smart Jr.
On June 15, 2024, the Estill Police Department received a report of an armed robbery outside Wiggins Hardware on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The victim told investigators that a man approached him while he was sitting outside the store in his vehicle. The assailant demanded that the victim hand over his keys or, “I will murder you.”
However, the vehicle’s owner grabbed the gun, and the men began to wrestle over it. The victim was able to exit the vehicle and run across the street to the hardware store, where the owner helped him call 9-1-1. Meanwhile, Smart tucked the gun into his waistband and walked away.
The truck owner and two other witnesses were given a photo lineup, and all three identified Smart as the attacker. Estill Police located and arrested Smart two days later.
Evans called four witnesses during one day of testimony at the Hampton County Courthouse
Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen handed down the sentence.
