Hilton Head man charged after allegedly choking wife, breaking down door, report says

A Hilton Head Island man was charged with second-degree domestic violence early Saturday morning after he allegedly choked his wife, shattered glass and tried to break down a door.

Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a Tanglewood Drive home around 12:15 a.m. after a woman called saying her husband had assaulted her, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

When deputies spoke with the woman at the scene, she said she had an appointment with an attorney Friday afternoon, and that her husband suspected she was going on a date with another man.

After her meeting, she went to a restaurant and her husband arrived with a friend. When the woman finished eating, she left in an Uber vehicle and asked her husband to find another way home. Moments after the woman got home, her husband arrived and “immediately began to yell,” the report said.

The woman suspected he was intoxicated and hid in a bedroom closet, according to the report. The woman told deputies that as she hid, her husband entered the room, and threw a bottle of water and a decorative candle in a glass container.

The glass shattered and created a “tennis ball sized” hole in the wall, the report said.

The woman was discovered in her hiding place by her husband when her phone made a noise. The woman left the apartment for half an hour after asking her husband to leave her alone and let her go to sleep, the report said.

She returned and sat on the outside balcony when she heard her husband leave through the front door. When he left, she locked herself in a bedroom, according to the report.

The woman said she was half asleep when her husband returned and started knocking on the door. When she told him she would not unlock it, he allegedly “thrust” himself against the door, splitting the door frame, which allowed him to go inside, the report said.

The woman dialed 911 as he tried to get through the door. Before the call connected, he grabbed her phone and physically assaulted her, the report said.

The woman pushed him away from the bed before he grabbed her arms, causing the pair to land on the floor, according to the report. He allegedly began to choke her, but she eventually broke free and grabbed her phone before running to the bathroom, where she was able to call 911, the report said.

The man left before deputies arrived. A deputy left him a message on his phone before obtaining an arrest warrant, according to the report.

On Sunday, a deputy met with the suspect, who said he believed his wife had “distanced” herself from him and alleged that she admitted to cheating on him.

The man said he became angry when his wife returned home the evening of the incident and his “romantic” gesture of lighting a candle “went unnoticed,” the report said.

He also told the deputy he threw the candle against the wall and broke down the locked door because he wanted to get camera equipment inside. When asked about a large knife that was found in the hallway floor, the man said he had used it as a tool to open the locked door, the report said.

He was unable to explain why he suddenly left the home by jumping over the rear balcony railing prior to deputies arriving, and also couldn’t explain why he didn’t return the deputy’s phone call, the report said.

The man was taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center.

The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette does not typically name those accused or charged with misdemeanor crimes.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Hilton Head man charged after allegedly choking wife, breaking down door, report says."