Deputy: When Hilton Head man came back outside with a knife, self-defense became assault

A Hilton Head Island man is charged with first-degree assault and battery after he allegedly used a knife to chase individuals outside of his apartment Sunday and injured at least two in the process, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

Suraj Gond, 21, was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center on Monday around 2:15 a.m. after the incident around 11:20 p.m. Sunday, according to detention center records and the report.

A deputy called to the residence on Chimney Cove off William Hilton Parkway found two individuals bleeding from cuts to their hands.

A witness told the deputy Gond had gotten into an argument about his girlfriend with fellow employees. The witness said when Gond returned home, individuals followed him to his apartment and continued to argue with the couple. The number of people involved in the incident was not specified in the report.

The group entered the apartment but then moved back outside. The witness said Gond then went back into the apartment and got a knife “so the individuals would stop being so aggressive to him and his girlfriend,” the report said.

Gond told a deputy a similar story, and added that while he was outside, the individuals began shouting at him and “four guys tried to hit him, but were stopped by others,” the report said.

He said he got the knife “in order to scare them and not hurt anyone.” After he entered the breezeway outside, two men attempted to stop him and were cut on their hands, the report said.

The responding deputy and additional deputies called to the scene determined Gond did not act in self-defense because he had retreated into his apartment but re-engaged with the individuals outside with the knife, resulting in the assault and battery charges, the report said.

Gond was released from the detention center around 5 p.m. Monday after posting bail on a $10,000 bond, according to online detention center records.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Deputy: When Hilton Head man came back outside with a knife, self-defense became assault."