Deputies: Card from the other woman fuels a knife threat on Hilton Head beach

A Georgia woman was charged with public disorderly conduct Monday after she allegedly grabbed a knife on a Hilton Head Beach and threatened to slit her husband’s throat, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The woman was arrested after deputies were called to Folly Field Beach Park around 3:30 p.m. where the woman’s daughter told them her parents were going through a divorce, but decided to go on a family vacation with she and her sister. As the four were sunbathing, her mother decided to go back to their condo where she texted her husband that she had found a card addressed to him from another woman, the report said.

When the woman’s husband got the text, he expected she might be angry when she returned and decided to walk along the beach to separate himself from her.

The daughter who spoke with deputies informed them that when her mother returned from the condo, she grabbed a steak knife from her beach bag and told her daughter “I want to cut (her husband’s) throat and watch him bleed out,” the report said. She allegedly added that she wanted to fight an unknown woman in Georgia who she believed was seeing her husband.

One of the daughters then “wrestled” the knife from their mother and hid it under a beach towel. Her mother then ran into the ocean and began swimming away from the shoreline.

The two daughters became concerned for their mother when they saw her head bobbing up and down in the water, the report said. One of the daughters, who told deputies she is two months pregnant, swam out to her mother and was able to bring her back to shore. When the pair arrived back on shore, the daughter felt winded and a life guard called EMS to the scene.

Around that time, the husband returned to find EMS caring for his daughter. He told deputies that his wife had never threatened him before and that he did not fear for his safety.

As deputies interviewed all those involved, the mother “seemed intoxicated,” according to the report. She allegedly asked repeatedly if she was going to jail or if she needed to call an attorney. She denied holding the knife and said she had consumed one alcoholic beverage and prescription medication prior to law enforcement arriving.

A deputy noted in the report that the woman was “irrational, emotional and clearly not in a sober state of mind.”

She was arrested at the scene and taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center.

This story was originally published June 7, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Deputies: Card from the other woman fuels a knife threat on Hilton Head beach."