Two Texas men have been arrested for several acts of vandalism at businesses on the south end of Hilton Head Island after a night out -- and a fall in a pond -- left them cold, wet and looking for shelter.
Anthony Michael Rocco and Matthew Curtis Schoen, both 33, were charged with five counts of malicious injury to property early Saturday.
At about 8 a.m. Saturday, deputies arrived at TD Bank on New Orleans Road after an employee reported a window had been broken. It appeared an outside bench had been used to smash the window, according to a news release.
When deputies checked the area, four other nearby businesses had been similarly vandalized. Hilton Head Island Realty, Bill Jones Realty, and Lowcountry Realty and Rentals had smashed windows or doors, overturned garbage cans and damaged lighting or signs. The front window at Regions Bank had been smashed when an exterior ashtray was thrown through it.
Surveillance footage from Regions Bank showed a man damaging the property. A tip from a witness led investigators to the Metropolitan Hotel, where staff confirmed that the man in the footage was a guest.
He and another man had come back to the hotel at about 4:30 a.m. Both were "extremely disheveled, with wet clothing and multiple cuts on their arms," according to the news release.
The men said they were in town from Austin, Texas, for a wedding, and that they had gone out Friday night for drinks. They had been disoriented, fell in a pond, and got lost in the woods.
They said they had vandalized the businesses in an attempt to get inside and keep warm, but they never entered any of the buildings.
Estimated damages to the five businesses total more than $10,000.
Both men posted bond. Schoen was released Sunday from the Beaufort County Detention Center, according to the jail log. Rocco was released Monday.





