Crime reports: Deputies search for suspect in attempted murder on Hilton Head

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is investigating an attempted murder that apparently occurred at a gas station on Hilton Head Island early Thanksgiving morning, according to an incident report released Friday.

It is unclear whether authorities have identified a suspect in the shooting, which left a 24-year-old Bluffton man with gunshot wounds on his back and sides, according to the report. The man's condition was unknown Friday.

He apparently was taken to Hilton Head Hospital, where Sheriff's Office investigators interviewed him. He was no longer listed as a patient at the hospital Friday, indicating he may have been discharged, a spokeswoman there said.

Sheriff's Office duty officer Capt. Allen Horton declined to release any details of the incident Friday. Horton said only that the investigation into the incident is active.

The shooting took place at 3:17 a.m. Thursday in the parking lot of the Circle K gas station located at 825 William Hilton Parkway, according to the report.

The suspect, known as "Sharkee," is described as a black man between the ages of 20 and 30 with black hair and brown eyes, 5-feet-10 and 170 pounds.

The man is wanted on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill, the report said.

A 43-year-old Ridgeland man was arrested early Friday on a charge of driving under the influence after deputies saw him driving in the wrong direction on a well-traveled Hilton Head Island road, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report released Friday.

Deputies saw him driving west in the eastbound lanes of the William Hilton Parkway just after 3 a.m. Friday, the report said. The car swerved before pulling into a parking lot, it said. The deputy noted that the man smelled like alcohol and that his eyes were bloodshot.

The deputy asked the man whether he knew he'd been driving in the wrong direction. The suspect replied that he was driving in the wrong direction because he was "confused by the blue lights of (the) patrol car," the report said.

When the deputy told the man he'd been driving in the wrong direction before the blue lights came on, he "became confused and stated that he didn't understand," it said.

When the deputy asked the man for his driver's license, the man gave him a business card. The suspect then began opening CD cases to find his vehicle registration, the report said.

The man told deputies he'd had "a couple drinks" earlier that evening, but later admitted to having at least six Pabst Blue Ribbon beers at a bar on the south end of the island.

He failed several field sobriety tests and was arrested, the report said. The man, who declined to take a breath analysis test, was taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center and later released on his own recognizance, according to the report and the detention center log.

Two Beaufort County sheriff's deputies drew their weapons in self-defense during a traffic stop early Thursday after they saw the front seat passenger putting his hand in his pants, as if to draw a gun.

Turns out he was just taking care of a personal itch.

The officers pulled the car over on the William Hilton Parkway on Hilton Head Island at 4 a.m. Thursday, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report released Friday.

When they began interviewing the driver, the deputies reported seeing an open, frosty bottle of alcoholic lemonade on the passenger's side floorboard, the report said.

As one deputy frisked the driver, he noticed the passenger "reach his right hand into the waist area of his pants," the report said.

Concerned for their safety, the officers "drew our service pistols and ordered (the suspect) to remove his hand from his pants," the report said. The suspect "did not comply and continued to manipulate his right hand inside his pants," it said.

The officers took the man out of the car and handcuffed him. They then asked why he was reaching into his waistband.

The man replied that he was "scratching" himself, the report said.

He told the deputies he wasn't carrying any illegal drugs, but when they shook his pant legs, a bag of suspected marijuana fell to the ground, the report said.

The man was arrested on charges of open container and simple possession of marijuana. He was released on a courtesy summons.

The following reports were released Friday by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office:

BLUFFTON

THEFT

• Huggins Hollow Lane: Firearm worth $500 stolen.

VANDALISM

• Haigler Blvd.: Taillights of 1998 Chevrolet Silverado cracked. Windows of 1999 Saturn Ion smashed. Total damage: $700.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND

BURGLARY

• Beach City Road: Radio worth $350 and padlock worth $25 stolen.

CAR BREAK-INS

• Stillwater Court: Two flashlights worth a total of $30 and digital camera worth $200 stolen from 1998 Ford F-150.

THEFT

• Mickey's Pub, William Hilton Parkway: $500 in cash stolen.

• Hilton Head Plantation, Deerfield Road: Tire and rim worth a total of $500 stolen from 2005 Chevrolet Uplander.

• Huggins Hollow Lane: Firearm worth $500 stolen.

ST. HELENA ISLAND

THEFT

• Octopuses, Sea Island Parkway: $30 in cash stolen from business, which sustained $250 in structural damage.

• S.C. Coastal Development Community, De Gullah Way: Business sustained $250 in damage from break-in attempt. Nothing was reported stolen.

Compiled by Renee Dudley and Patrick Donohue