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Neighbor hopes Lake Murray dock becomes safer after armed robbery

The robbery took place at the Rocky Point Recreation area in Chapin on Sunday.

CHAPIN, S.C. — (WLTX) -- Multiple teens were arrested over the weekend at Lake Murray in the Chapin area. 

Deputies said they tried to hijack a vehicle and held a victim at gunpoint at a boat dock. One neighbor said he thinks there are a few ways to make that area safer, so something like this doesn't happen again.

"We all thought it was just rowdy people being rowdy," Jeff Strickland said.

On Sunday morning, Lexington County deputies responded to a call at the boat dock at Rocky Point Recreation area.

"This is the first I've heard of this kind of crime in this area since I moved here," Strickland said.

Six teens were arrested for armed robbery at the boat dock in Chapin.

"Well, a disbelief at first," Strickland said. "You're wondering now do we have a bunch of teens trying to go have some fun harassing people did they think this is out, was this a dare on a Saturday night? Or was this a, hey let's scope it out, let's see the in and out traffic, is this is a hit, is it going to happen again."

Strickland lives right next to the Lake Murray boat dock. He said there are no lights out there and a lot of trees, which makes the area less visible, especially at night.

"The neighbors over here on the right, they can barely see through the trees and there's no lights to see what's going on," Strickland said. "So all you can do is hear something, so it's a lot easier to take action if you can see what's going on."

According to deputies the teens were in the woods while the victims were waiting at the dock to load a boat. When the teens approached them, they attempted to hijack their vehicle, assault the driver, take money and one teen held passengers in the backseat at gun point.

Even though the teens were arrested it still makes what happened unsettling to Strickland.

"It needs to be safe, so whatever it takes to make it a safe place to bring your family," Strickland said.

Especially because he is a father.

"I have a 20-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter and they both use the boat," Strickland said. "They both come in and out they drive the boat around on the lake here. And yeah, it's something that will be in the back of my mind now."

Investigators charged the teens on Sunday.

One is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center on a $30,000 bond. The remaining teens were transported to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.

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