Tow truckers robbed at gunpoint

AIKEN, S.C. - A couple of tow truck drivers thought they were helping a customer out. Instead, they found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun.

After working in the towing business for years, Kevin Jasmin never considered his job dangerous until he and his partner were robbed.

"We went to turn around and a couple of guys come out of the woods dressed all in black with black hoodies with their hoods pulled up," said Jasmin. "[My partner] said, 'I don't like how this is going."

The next thing Kevin Jasmin and his partner saw was the black shine of two pistols pointed right at their faces.

"I hope I don't die. Give them whatever they want, they can have whatever they want, just let us live; that's what I was thinking," recalled Jasmin.

Working at a towing and automotive shop in Aiken, a call came in Thursday for a car to be picked up from a neighborhood off Whispering Pines Terrace. Jasmin and his partner immediately had second thoughts when they arrived in a quiet neighborhood with no one and no car.

Once two men came out of nowhere and approached their truck, they rolled down their window. The mechanics soon realized their mistake when the darkly dressed men pulled out revolvers and demanded everything they had.

"My mother-in-law said, 'you all have to be very careful. I've been hearing about bad stuff happening to tow truck drivers.' The same day while I was at work, she was at my home saying that, and we were getting robbed," Jasmin laughed.

Jasmin and his partner drove off without their wallets and a little shaken. They say, the next time they'll be prepared and likely armed themselves.

The Aiken County Sheriff's Office has seen an increase in robberies of tow truckers as well as pizza delivery drivers during the past year.

The Sheriff's Office is still looking for the two gunmen and for tips leading to an arrest.

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