Local

‘I was screaming’: Machete attack victim uses cellphone app to track suspect leading to arrest

By WSOCTV.com News Staff
By WSOCTV.com News Staff

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — A victim in a vicious machete attack Thursday morning in York County used cellphone technology to help authorities track Stephen Daniel Tilley, 43, down in Mecklenburg County leading to his arrest.

“I was screaming, yelling, trying to get someone to hear me. Nobody heard me. Seemed like it was hours,” the victim, Clarence Ames, told Channel 9.

Tilley stole Ames’ cellphone during the attack that happened at about 1 a.m.

“I was laying there screaming, ‘God please help me,’” Ames said.

Clarence Ames Clarence Ames, the victim of a machete attack in York County, tells Channel 9 how he helped authorities track down the suspect.

Ames got stitches and more than 60 staples in his head.

Ames said he asked Tilley to move out of his property on Lighthouse Avenue, which led to the attack.

“He ran up to me before I could even get in my car and he started swinging,” Ames said. “I thought it was a stick at first.”

Ames said he fell to the ground trying to protect himself.

“So, I was holding skin so, I wouldn’t bleed out, and I was trying to fend him off with my feet at the same time,” Ames said. “Every time he would swing, sometimes he’d get me, sometimes. I’d be able to stop him. It was going on for 10 to 15 minutes probably. Just getting hacked with this machete.”

Someone heard Ames’ screams in the Fort Mill neighborhood and called 911 and Tilley ran off when he heard sirens.

York County deputies spent nearly 24 hours searching for Tilley.

Ames remembered Tilley stole his phone after he left the hospital.

So the victim tracked the device down using an app, and that technology is what led to Tilley’s arrest Thursday night.

“I said, ‘You know, I’ve got an app on my phone,’” Ames recalls telling deputies. “It says, ‘Find my device.’ Even if that phone is turned off, you can still ping that device and it shows you where it’s at.”

[WANT TO WATCH ON OUR STREAMING APPS? CLICK HERE]

Ames said he knows he could have died in the machete attack.

Deputies found Tilley in Pineville.

Tilley was charged with attempted murder.

(WATCH BELOW: Shots fired into apartments strike woman, narrowly miss neighbor and son eating dinner)

Shots fired into apartments striking woman, narrowly missing neighbor, son eating dinner


©2022 Cox Media Group

0

Most Read