Staff Writer

A Union man said he was robbed at gunpoint after offering to assist a motorist with repairing a vehicle.

The victim, a 53-year-old man, told Sgt. Russell Vinson with the Union County Sheriff's Office that he was cleaning his home on 239 Pineland Road around 10:50 p.m. when a man came to the door and asked if he could get some water for his car. He said he gave the man a jug of water and told him that if he could get the vehicle to his residence, he would take a look at it.

After a few minutes, the man returned to the house. The victim said both times the man asked him to come outside because the victim had a dog in the residence with him. The victim said that as the man walked up on the porch, two other men came from behind the vehicle, which was parked in front of the residence. One of the men had a shotgun and told him to give him all of his money. The man then reached into the victim's pocket and took $600 and his cell phone.

The men told the victim to go into the residence. The victim said he asked them not to shoot him. He said as he entered his house, he slammed the door on the gun. He heard one of them say “get the pistol.” and he ran out the back door. He said he stayed in the woods for a while until he was sure the men were gone. He said when his neighbor came home, he asked the neighbor if he could use his phone. The neighbor said he had no phone. The victim got into his vehicle and went to his mother's house and called 911.

The victim described the first man who came to his door as a black man wearing a gray coat with a hood. He said the man looked to be in his mid-20s.

An investigation is continuing.