Original report
Aiken County man charged after woman says fake cop kidnapped her
Deputies said witnesses found the woman on Williston Road in handcuffs after she escaped from a car and ran for help.
Original report
Deputies said witnesses found the woman on Williston Road in handcuffs after she escaped from a car and ran for help.
Aiken County, SC· May 30, 2026
Jonathan Willard, 39, was booked May 30 in Aiken County on charges of kidnapping and impersonating a law enforcement officer after deputies said a woman reported he claimed to be police, handcuffed her and put her in his car on May 29.
According to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office, the woman told deputies she was walking near Banks Mill Road and Club Drive in Aiken County when Willard approached her from behind, said he was with police and drove her away. Deputies said she later escaped from the car at an unmarked gated driveway and ran to Williston Road near Boggy Gut Road, where witnesses found her in handcuffs.
A witness told deputies he saw the driver of a green Cadillac try to run the woman over before leaving, and another witness helped remove what deputies later determined were toy metal handcuffs.