Investigators on Brittanee Drexel case are eying this case 

GEORGETOWN, S.C. — A McClellanville man who was charged with an attempted abduction last week in Myrtle Beach has a lengthy criminal record, including multiple charges of driving under suspension, criminal domestic violence and giving false information to police.

Timothy Shaun Taylor, 37, who also goes by the name Timothy DeShawn, was charged Thursday with attempted kidnapping and assault and battery.

Police said there are some similarities between the attempted abduction and the case of missing teen Brittanee Drexel, but have not linked the two crimes.

Investigators working to solve the Drexel case are also investigating the recent attempted abduction, police said.

A judge set Taylor’s bond at $50,000 for the attempted kidnapping charge and $20,000 for the assault charge.

Arrest warrants were out for him in the attempted kidnapping of the 20-year-old Tennessee woman last week, according to Myrtle Beach Police.

The woman said she was walking along Ocean Boulevard when two men got out of an older-model van and tried kidnapping her.

She fought back and was able to get away.

Familiar to police

Before the arrest on the kidnapping and assault charges, Taylor was familiar to police in Georgetown, Myrtle Beach and Charleston County, according to arrest records provided by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.

In 1994, Taylor was charged by the Georgetown Police Department with driving under suspension and giving false information to police.

He was ordered to pay fines of $279 and $234, or spend 30 days in jail for each charge.

In 1996, he was charged with disorderly conduct by the Georgetown Police Department. He was then ordered to pay a $304 fine or spend 30 days in jail.

By 1997, Taylor was charged by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office with a variety of charges.

This included driving under the influence, driving under suspension, failure to stop for a blue light and siren and failure to appear in family court.

He received a suspended sentence and probation of one year for failure to stop for a blue light. He was also convicted of the other charges, according to SLED records. 

Other charges which resulted in convictions against Taylor in Georgetown County, Charleston County, Myrtle Beach and Georgetown include criminal domestic violence, driving under suspension and passing bad checks.

Kidnapping incident

Police say the latest incident happened as the woman was leaving the Mystic Sea Hotel, near 22nd Avenue South along the boulevard.

Because the attempted kidnapping was in the same general area where Drexel was last seen, speculation has been raised that those men could have also taken Brittanee. Drexel’s mother also said she had heard Taylor’s name mentioned at the start of the iinvestigation.

Taylor is from McClellanville in Northern Charleston County where Brittanee's cellphone signal was last picked up and near where, it is rumored, Brittanee's sunglasses were found.

Numerous searches have taken place along the border of Georgetown and Charleston counties during the past year.

Brittanee's mother, Dawn Drexel, said she heard rumors about Shaun Taylor when the search for Brittanee first started.

Myrtle Beach police have not said anything about the case other than Taylor is in custody and they are investigation any possible links to the Drexel case, but the investigation has stepped up in the last two days.

By Kelly Marshall Fuller

Kfuller@gtowntimes.com

WBTW contributed to this report.