Deputies: Hilton Head woman locked herself in the bathroom to stop assault from boyfriend

An Estill man was charged with third-degree domestic violence Tuesday night after his girlfriend called 911 crying and told dispatchers that she had locked herself in a bathroom for safety.

Deputies responded to a Beachwalk Villas residence on Shipyard Drive around 11:35 p.m. after the female victim called dispatch saying she was hiding in a bathroom, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

When the deputies arrived, the woman met them outside crying.

“I noted she also appeared to be in pain as she held her phone in her left hand while clenching her right hand against her chest,” a deputy wrote in the report.

As the woman spoke with deputies her boyfriend was in the living room and became “confrontational” with deputies and was “not receptive to their directions.”

At that time, the man was placed in restraints because he allegedly kept reaching for an unknown item near a couch.

He refused to speak to deputies without an attorney present and was taken to a patrol vehicle, the report said.

The victim told deputies that her boyfriend had been drinking while playing cards. When he wanted one more drink, she refused and told him he’d had enough already before she hid a bottle opener.

The pair then began to argue and her boyfriend proceeded to “mush” her in the face and she pushed him away before he started to “throw punches,” the report said.

“She said she was able to get him to the ground and place her knees on top of his shoulders so he would stop hitting her,” a deputy wrote in the report. “(The man) grabbed her by the arm and hand, then twisted her hand. (The woman) stated she then heard a loud pop in her left hand, believing (the man) had just broken her fingers.”

As she began to crawl away, the woman said her boyfriend followed her and punched her once in the back and then two or three times in the ribs.

She then managed to run to a bedroom and call 911 before locking herself in a bathroom.

When deputies asked her to meet them outside, the woman said her boyfriend threatened to hit her with a beer bottle as she exited the home.

When EMS arrived, the woman refused treatment.

The man was taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center.

The Island Packet does not typically release the names of those accused of or charged with misdemeanor crimes.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Deputies: Hilton Head woman locked herself in the bathroom to stop assault from boyfriend."