Police haven’t made any arrests within the days following a grisly, racially charged brawl in the midst of a Hilton Head freeway through the afternoon rush hour. 4 individuals and three automobiles had been concerned within the highway rage dispute that rapidly turned violent.
Round 4:30 p.m. on June 15, Beaufort County deputies acquired a report of “individuals combating within the roadway” of U.S. 278, the place one particular person had allegedly pulled out a gun. Arriving to search out nothing however typical cross-island site visitors, police as an alternative adopted an EMS name from a lady who stated she had been injured within the struggle.
On the lady’s residence on Seashore Metropolis Street, officers discovered the white north-island resident with a “massive lump” on the again of her head, pink marks on her face and small cuts round her ankle, knee and chest. As she was loaded into an ambulance, the lady informed police the incident “began off as highway rage”: Whereas her husband was driving their white Nissan Maxima throughout the Hilton Head bridges, a Black man driving a black Jeep Grand Cherokee nearly bumped into the again of their automobile and was “slamming on brakes” with a toddler within the automobile, in line with her interview present in an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Workplace.
A feminine acquaintance of the Jeep driver, additionally Black, was following shut behind in a “little pink Mustang,” the lady stated. The 4 occupants of the three autos reportedly started hurling insults at one another whereas driving alongside one another on the freeway — together with racial slurs that may quickly convey the 2 ladies onto the asphalt.
The couple confirmed police a cellphone video taken through the high-speed dispute. Over the sound of honking and site visitors, the deputy famous listening to one male yell “Ima f*** you up boy” by means of his rolled-down automobile window, in addition to verbal taunts like “Come on, come on … you little pu***” because the autos sped previous each other.
The white lady additionally yelled racial slurs on the different drivers, the officer famous, which escalated the state of affairs additional as the 2 Black drivers berated her use of the time period. In response, the lady stated “Properly, how ‘bout you’re simply ugly?” in line with the report.
The lady was then heard saying “She about to say I gained’t get out … Child let me the f*** out!” as she demanded her husband cease the automobile. The recording ends with audio of the lady unbuckling her seatbelt.
A witness who had stopped at a site visitors sign close to Spanish Wells Street later recounted the brawl to police over the telephone. Wanting behind her, she noticed a white lady and Black lady scuffling on the asphalt whereas a white male tried to interrupt up the struggle. A shirtless Black man then climbed out of one other parked car and reportedly pointed a pistol on the white man, she stated.
“This all occurred in a short time,” stated the witness, who had pushed away and pulled over earlier than calling regulation enforcement. She didn’t recall listening to any gunshots.
The injured lady “promised” police that she didn’t intend to struggle the opposite lady, who had “began swinging on (her)“ earlier than they by some means ended up on the bottom. She additionally alleged the Black man kicked her within the head in opposition to the concrete, leaving lasting aches in her head and decrease jaw. Tufts of her hair had been falling out as effectively as a result of her combatant had yanked it, she informed police.
Neither member of the couple might give “a definitive inciting incident that began the highway rage,” the officer famous within the report, however the lady suggested that “each autos had reduce one another off.”
Deputies later recognized the motive force of the Jeep, however investigation into the brawl was nonetheless underway as of Wednesday, in line with Grasp Sgt. Danny Allen of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Workplace. No photographs had been fired and not one of the 4 events concerned had been critically injured.
Crimes fueled by highway rage are removed from unusual in Beaufort County, native knowledge exhibits. The sheriff’s workplace reported at least 10 such incidents in a yearlong interval ending in Might 2023, with most involving drivers flashing weapons at different vacationers. These occurrences are most typical the place site visitors is heavy and tensions are excessive — just like the bridges to Hilton Head Island.
