A family car ride on Hilton Head ends in a father-son spat — and 50 stitches

A family car ride turned into a father-son spat and ended with an assault and battery charge Saturday on Hilton Head Island, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The incident occurred sometime that afternoon, according to report, written by a deputy who met the victim — the father — at a hospital later in the day.

The man and his wife — who authored her husband’s written statement to authorities since his injuries prevented him from doing so — said a verbal dispute led him to stop the car they were driving on Folly Field Road.

He and his son got out of the car, according to the report. He told authorities he told his son “to walk away.” But his son approached him and said, “‘Come on!’” according to the report.

His son then punched him in the face, he said, which his wife — who was also in the car — said she, too, witnessed.

The son, arrested by deputies hours later and charged with third-degree assault and battery, said he punched his father because the man “approached him in a way he felt threatened.”

At the hospital, a deputy observed a “large cut” over the father’s left eyebrow. It was “bleeding profusely,” according to the report. He had other wounds to his face which required a total of 50 stitches.

His left eye was “turning black and blue and was swollen shut,” the deputy recorded.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 3:44 PM with the headline "A family car ride on Hilton Head ends in a father-son spat — and 50 stitches."