‘I would hurt a man,’ says ‘well dressed’ Hilton Head shopper with big knife

A man was issued a trespass notice Wednesday after he allegedly shopped in a Hilton Head Island store with a large chef’s knife sticking out of his pants.

The incident happened Monday around 10:45 a.m. at Coastal Sunglasses in Coligny Beach Plaza, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

An employee of the plaza told a deputy that a “well dressed” man had been seen at the store with what appeared to be a “large kitchen knife” down the back of his pants with the handle of the knife exposed. When the man was confronted about the knife, he allegedly said “I would never hurt a woman, but I would hurt a man,” before leaving the store, the report said.

The plaza employee was able to provide a deputy with several surveillance photos of the man, but did not know his name.

The deputy returned to the plaza two days later on a report that the man had once again been seen on the property.

The deputy was able to locate the man near the beach access point of Coligny Circle and asked him about the knife.

The man told the deputy that he did indeed have a large chef’s knife down the back of his pants two days prior in the store and added that when a man asked him about it, he replied that “it was none of (the man’s) business,” the report said.

The man was then issued a trespass notice by the deputy.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 11:42 AM with the headline "‘I would hurt a man,’ says ‘well dressed’ Hilton Head shopper with big knife."