JOHNSTON – An attempt to serve arrest warrants on two Johnston teens resulted in an hour long standoff on Sandra Drive Tuesday afternoon.

Johnston Police Chief Chris Aston said search warrants were served at their homes on Monday but the two were not located. “Investigator Lamaz Robinson got a tip (Tuesday afternoon) they were at a home on Sandra Drive, he contacted me, and I contacted the Sheriff Office, and the Edgefield PD came too, and we merged on the residence.”

The two teens refused to come out of the home and police used a negotiator to eventually convince them to surrender. “Nobody got hurt,” Chief Aston said, “none of the suspects, officers, no innocent bystanders, nobody got hurt, so everything went well.”

Chief Aston said one of the two arrested is Justin Hill, “I believe he’s 18 or 19, but the other is a juvenile so until we charge him as an adult I’d rather leave his name out.” Both are being charged with first degree burglary which can carry up to 25 years to life in prison upon conviction. “We’re probably going to have more charges that will be filed,” Aston said.

The two were taken to the Edgefield County Detention Center for booking on the outstanding warrants.

“I feel sorry for the families,” Chief Aston said, “because these are young guys and they get mixed up with these guys on the street. But it is what it is.” Aston said more arrests were possible in the near future in the various related cases under investigation.

Chief Aston said he wanted to thank the Sheriff’s Office and the Edgefield Police Department for their assistance. “But I want to thank the citizens too. They provide us with information and they know they can trust law enforcement, they tell us, and we get good information and that leads to arrests”, he said.

Edgefielddaily.com contributed to this report.