A group of men tackled a registered sex offender outside a South Carolina Cracker Barrel on Sunday.
Duncan Police Chief Carl Long reported the arrest of known sex offender Douglas Lane in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant after Lane allegedly observed a 15-year-old girl in the women’s restroom on Sunday afternoon. The unnamed young woman said she noticed movement near her feet while she was in a stall, and realized it was a man’s head.
“I’ll never forget the way they looked after,” a witness said of the girl. “They were traumatized.” Her father then confronted Lane as he emerged from the bathroom. Then, according to another witness who was outside the restaurant, “the guy came running, sprinting out the front door with a very bloody nose.”
Other fathers visiting the restaurant helped to intercept Lane, tackling him to the pavement in the parking lot and restraining him until police arrived. Lane was then arrested, and has been charged with voyeurism, as well as possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Lane’s phone was found in the aforementioned women’s restroom, and was collected by police.
Lane is a registered sex offender, and has faced similar charges eight times in the past.