A white couple was arrested for allegedly attacking an interracial couple during a road rage incident in South Carolina.
John Kingkade and his wife, Krystal Kingkade, allegedly beat and robbed Elena Vawter and Bron Cornett in a Dollar Tree parking lot after cutting them off with their Mercedes. The violent attack left Cornett, a 21-year-old Black man, hospitalized.
The Kingkades also yelled racist slurs, the local sheriff’s department said.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested John Kingkade, 38, and his wife, Krystal Kingkade, 37, on April 14 evening in connection to the April 10 incident, Oxygen.com reported.
Vawter and Cornett were driving when their vehicle was reportedly cut off by the Kingkade’s car. The driver of the Kingkade’s car signaled Vawter and Cornett to pull over into a nearby Dollar Tree parking lot.
“Once there, John Kingkade got out of his vehicle, approached the victims’ car, and began shouting racial slurs at them,” according to a press release from the sheriff’s department.
When Cornett got out of his car, John Kingkade allegedly assaulted him, “knocking him to the ground,” according to the press release.
“It was such a loud smack when my boyfriend hit the ground,” Vawter, 21, told WIS-TV. “The scream was so horrendous, I thought he had been shot.”
Vawter came to her boyfriend’s aid, and she was assaulted by Krystal Kingkade, police said.
“Both victims’ phones were taken during the altercation,” investigators note. “The Kingkades then left the scene.”
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Both Vawter and Cornett were taken to the hospital for their injuries. Vawter’s tooth was broken after John Kingkade allegedly punched her in the face.
Cornett apparently has muscle, nerve, and ligament damage.
“I’m constantly in pain now,” Cornett told WIS-TV. “I don’t know if my leg’s going to be the same ever again.”
The Kingkades have each been charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of assault and battery in the first degree. They both posted bail.
John Kingkade is scheduled to appear back in court on May 14; Krystal Kingkade is due on May 21.
