Hilton Head man challenges HOA, stands up for teenager accused of vandalism

A resident in a Hilton Head Island gated community is challenging his property owners association’s decision to ban one of his son’s teenage friends from the neighborhood after someone destroyed multiple mailboxes with a baseball bat.

Palmetto Hall Plantation resident Guy Annunziata says he is upset that the boy was given a formal no trespass order at Annunziata’s house one morning without any kind of hearing. Annunziata says he believes the boy to be innocent, but that isn’t the entire point.

“I’m not trying to prove this kid’s innocence,” Annunziata said Friday. “I’m trying to air the POA’s incredible power to do something like this. ... That’s the part that’s un-American to me.”

Annunziata said he felt better after he heard from a board member over the weekend who said the board will meet with him sometime this week to discuss the matter.

“I love Palmetto Hall, I have no desire to hurt Palmetto Hall in any way by telling my story,” Annunziata said. “But at the same time I feel the POA needs to be held accountable and allow someone who is accused to tell their side of the story.”

Palmetto Hall Association Manager Courtney Struna would not comment on the matter Monday morning, and neither would Steve Fobes, president of the POA’s board of directors.

And neither Struna nor Fobes would speak in generalities about the POA’s process or threshold for requesting trespass notices.

Annunziata believes the boy was singled out because his car matches the description of one allegedly involved in destroying the mailboxes Oct. 10. The boy couldn’t have done it, Annunziata said, because he and some other boys were in his house all night when the vandalism took place.

Annunziata said Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies served the no trespass order the following morning.

The boy’s father declined to discuss the matter.

Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Bob Bromage confirmed deputies served a trespass notice Oct. 11. The notice states the POA had received numerous complaints of people ringing doorbells and running in addition to the vandalism.

Trespass notices are not criminal violations and do not go on a person’s record.