Snell receives 20 years for kidnapping
A Millsboro man will serve 20 years in prison for robbing and kidnapping an elderly Rehoboth Beach couple in July 2018.
In August, Steven Snell, 30, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery, home invasion, second-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon in August. When his jail sentence is complete, Snell will serve one year on work release and two years of probation with GPS monitoring. Judge E. Scott Bradley handed down the sentence Oct. 25 in Delaware Superior Court in Georgetown.
Prior to accepting a plea, Snell was facing 19 charges that could have landed him in prison for 42 years if convicted on all counts. In taking the plea, he faced a minimum of 17 years with prosecutors agreeing to cap his sentence at 22 years.
On July 28, 2018, Snell went to the home of an 82-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife at Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club. He was familiar with the home because he had been there to do electrical work with his grandfather. During that visit, the couple claimed Snell had stolen $180 out of the woman’s purse. Snell had previously been arrested on theft charges, and was on probation at the time of the crime.
According to Delaware State Police, the male victim saw Snell outside his garage. The man thought Snell was a painter who had come to work at the house. Snell told the man that his phone was dead and sought to use the phone in the house.
Snell asked for a glass of water and when the man turned to get it, Snell held a box cutter to his throat. A struggle ensued and the man was cut. The wife then came down the stairs, and Snell grabbed her and threw her to the ground.
Snell tied up the man and took $60 from his wallet before taking $200 from the woman and her ATM card. He forced the woman into the man’s black BMW, put the man in the trunk and drove to an M&T Bank branch on Camelot Drive. Snell told the woman he had a gun.
At the bank, Snell withdrew $500, but not before being captured on the ATM security camera with the woman, who later recognized him by a three-star tattoo on his forearm. Prosecutors say that when Snell tried to leave the bank with the woman after withdrawing the money, she struggled. When another customer intervened, Snell fled in the car with the man still in the trunk. Snell parked the car in the rear of a Subway restaurant near the bank. The man was later able to free himself from the trunk by jimmying the lock.
Delaware State Police were later able to track down Snell using a cellphone locator after obtaining Snell’s number from his mother. Snell’s attorney, Rob Robinson, had attempted to have this evidence thrown out, but Bradley ruled evidence obtained from the cellphone locator was admissible.
