Taxi driver on Hilton Head reports guns drawn, shots fired in Wednesday drop off

A taxi cab driver working on Hilton Head Island told Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies that three juveniles drew guns and fired shots on Wednesday morning after they refused to pay for a cab ride.

A deputy was dispatched around 5:30 a.m. to Squire Pope Road on a report of pointing, presenting and discharging a firearm within town limits, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

Once there, a Yellow Cab driver said he picked up three African American male juveniles from the Metropolitan Hotel on South Forest Beach Drive who asked him to drop them off at a seafood restaurant on Squire Pope Road, the report said.

When they arrived, the driver said the three then asked him to take them to a residence on Squiresgate Road in the area of Kings Court, the report said.

The driver said he took the three to the area and they told him “this is good,” the report said.

The three then told the driver they had lost all of their money and could not pay, the report said. At that time, the driver told them they “were not going to do this to him” and began to call the Sheriff’s Office, the report said.

After the driver informed them he was calling the Sheriff’s Office, he said two of the three pulled out guns and said “he was not going to do them like this” before all three got out of the vehicle without paying the $18 charge for the ride, the report said.

Two of the three ran toward Squiresgate Road as the third ran toward the traffic circle, the report said.

The driver followed the two who ran together until he heard five or six gunshots, the report said.

Deputies searched the area for the suspects said to be wearing back clothing and hoodies and were around 5-feet-7-inches tall and 160 pounds, the release said.

The suspects were not found, the report said.

This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Taxi driver on Hilton Head reports guns drawn, shots fired in Wednesday drop off."