Gaffney police have arrested six of eight men wanted in connection with an April 2 home invasion on Providence Road in which a 32- year-old woman allegedly was held at gun and knifepoint inside her home and beaten. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the two remaining suspects is asked to call Gaffney Det. Sgt. Ron Ramsey at (864) 206-3320. Nearly a dozen detectives, special agents and other police officers gathered outside the Gaffney Police Department on Tuesday afternoon as they returned from another successful mission.

No one was patting each other on the back yet, though. Their mission was not yet over.

A labor intensive investigation into an April 2 home invasion on Providence Road resulted in burglary charges being filed against eight young men.

On Tuesday afternoon, investigators from the Gaffney Police Department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division took the sixth of the eight into custody, leaving two more to go.

"There's still a lot of loose ends to tie up," said Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald as the officers returned to the station. "We're still working the case and will continue to work on it until everything is completed."

"There's still a lot of loose ends to tie up. We're still working the case and will continue to work on it until everything is completed. We're looking at some severe charges. (The victim) was beaten up pretty badly and held against her will." - Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald In custody as of Tuesday afternoon are: Terry Deon Littlejohn, 18, of Jolly Drive; Labrontae Agnew, 17, of Chandler Drive; Kwame Rashad Douglas, 17, of Bonner Lake Road; Robert Landrum Wilson Jr., 19, of Brookwood Drive; Kendrick Rashad Tate, 18, of Winchester Drive; and Billy Rodgers, 19, of Peeler Street.

Agnew and Littlejohn were taken into custody Friday, while Douglas, Tate and Wilson were taken into custody Monday. Rodgers was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon.

Police were still looking for two men as of Tuesday evening: Josh Manning, 21, whose last known address on West Smith Street turned out to be a vacant home; and John Bonner, 17, whose last known address is Robinson Street.

All eight men are charged in arrest warrants with burglary, but police said other charges are likely.

"We're looking at some severe charges," Chief O'Donald said. "(The victim) was beaten up pretty badly and held against her will."

It had initially been believed that five men participated in the early morning home invasion of a Providence Road home, where a 32-year-old woman was awakened from her slumber at about 2:20 a.m. by a group of men who forced their way inside.

The victim told police the men held her at gun and knifepoint while her home was ransacked and keys to an adjacent convenience store on Providence Road were stolen.

Security camera footage from the store shows at least two people entered the Corner Stop #2 convenience store at 717-719 Providence Road where they broke into cash boxes. When those men triggered a security alarm inside the convenience store, the robber holding the woman inside her home allegedly began to beat her and continued the assault as she fell to the floor.

It was believed that one of the home invaders also kicked the woman's tiny Chihuahua, which suffered some type of back or spinal cord injury.

O'Donald said the investigation, led by Det. Sgt. Ron Ramsey, has been one of persistence.

The security camera footage obtained from the convenience store, along with other evidence obtained at the scene of the home invasion, gave police some direction and allowed them to develop their suspects based on interviews.

"They put a lot of time into it," O'Donald said.

SLED was not only helping with manpower in the search for the eight men but its crime laboratory is helping with DNA testing.

O'Donald said investigators have recovered some items that were stolen from the victim, but he declined to identify them at this point.

THE CASE IN REVIEW

A group of men stormed into a home on Providence Road in the early morning hours of April 2 and held a 32-yearold woman at gunpoint.

At least two men took keys from the home that opened an adjacent convenience store, entered the store and broke into cash boxes.

When the alarm at the store sounded, at least one of the men still holding the woman began to beat her, continuing the assault as she fell to the floor.

One of the intruders is believed to have kicked the woman's pet dog, causing it to suffer an injury to its back or spinal cord.

Two of the suspects were taken into custody Friday, three more were rounded up Monday and another was captured Tuesday. Two remain at large.