A kidnap victim is safe today thanks to an alert officer with the North Myrtle Beach Police Department. The male in the vehicle’s passenger seat was a fugitive. He’d just shot someone at the sports bar they were leaving.
Alert officer sees a clue
Officer Kayla Wallace with the police department in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was patrolling along U.S. Highway 17 shortly before sunrise on May 28 when she spotted a white Jeep run a red light. She quickly pulled it over.
While “speaking with the female driver and male passenger, Wallace reportedly noticed the woman appeared distressed.” They gave her “attention to detail during a traffic stop” a write up in the department’s “Way-to-Go Wednesday” Facebook post.
As soon as the passenger had his attention distracted elsewhere, the “female silently mouthed ‘help me,‘ repeatedly.” The alert officer caught the clue.
#BREAKING #LEO #NEWS🚨#LEO #Hero#NMBPD officer #KaylaWallace rescued a kidnapped woman during a car stop of the suspect, who was wanted for a shooting prior to the stop
Myrtle Beach officer rescued woman who mouthed "help me"#ThinBlueLine🇺🇸
🖤💙🖤 https://t.co/Pgku86Jsb7— Dan Thom,B.S.,J.D.⚖️⚖️⚖️ 🖤💙🖤 (@WB6DYN) June 8, 2023
As reported by department spokesperson Pat Wilkinson, “taking note of the driver’s discreet plea for assistance, Wallace removed the passenger from the Jeep and placed him in her patrol car’s back seat.”
Once she had him safely tucked away in her cruiser, “the officer returned to speak with the woman who was driving.” She “frantically” informed Wallace that “the man sitting in her police vehicle had just shot a person.”
As the unnamed witness was relating the tale, the radio squawked out a dispatch alert “for officers to be on the lookout for a vehicle recently involved in a shooting in Horry County.” Wallace quickly responded that she thought she had it under control.
Shooting outside a sports bar
The male passenger already in police custody was soon identified as Collins Bates. He’s formally accused of “shooting someone outside a sports bar in Myrtle Beach on May 28.” Whether he knew the woman or not, by “forcing” her to “drive him away from the bar after the shooting,” he’s automatically charged with kidnapping.
The MBPD gave Officer Wallace an extra doughnut for “proactively patrolling the streets of North Myrtle Beach, even to the last 30 minutes of her shift.”
After the suspect was cuffed in her cruiser, the local super-sleuth soon discovered an “an unlawfully carried pistol” stashed “underneath the suspect’s seat.” MBPD was also enthusiastic to point out that not only did she do such a great job, she’s only been on the force since 2021.
Officer Kayla Wallace saved a suspected kidnapping victim when she mouthed 'help me' during a traffic stop. https://t.co/GPGurU90VS
— Court TV (@CourtTV) June 12, 2023
They’d like to keep her around long enough to retire. Maybe even clone her off a few times. By then, we might have the tech to do it. “Our department and our community is lucky to have Officer Wallace,” they declare.
Booking records confirm that Master Bates is being held “without bond on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.” Just for fun, they added “unlawful carrying of a pistol and possession of firearms and ammunition.”
Thanks to the outstanding performance of Officer Wallace, they still have him “behind bars” as of Friday. Hopefully, he’ll go somewhere more secure on a permanent basis for years to come.
