Blind SC man was robbed in his home, cops say. He recognized the robber’s voice

A blind man who was robbed in his South Carolina home told officers he recognized the voice of his attacker as his former caretaker, according to police. 

The robbery happened Feb. 5 at a home on Sumter Street in Greenwood, according to a Greenwood Police Department incident report. 

The 65-year-old victim told police he was making food in his kitchen when he heard the front door open, according to the report. He called out and asked who was in his house and heard a woman’s voice answer. 

The victim, who is blind, recognized the voice as that of his former caretaker, Nichole Settles, the report states. Settles came into the kitchen, pushed the man down and took two bank envelopes containing cash that he had rolled up in one of his socks. 

As the man was being attacked, he heard Settles yell out “Who’s that?” in what he believed was an attempt to “act like someone else was in the house.” 

Settles was arrested Friday and charged with strong arm robbery, The Index-Journal reported. Strong-arm robbery carries up to 15 years in prison, under South Carolina law.