Hilton Head driver loses his temper and makes an obscene gesture. He picked the wrong guy

Make a note of this: Before you lose your temper while on the road and make an obscene gesture to another driver, make sure he isn’t a cop in an unmarked car.

A Hilton Head man was arrested for doing just that Monday as he sped down the Cross Island Parkway, “hung out his window and displayed his middle finger” at a deputy, a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report said.

The suspect was going 68 mph in a 55 mph zone and driving “erratically” down the center of the road when he came up behind a deputy in the unmarked patrol car, the report said. When the deputy tried to change lanes to get out of the way, the suspect accelerated and almost struck his vehicle, the report said. He then offered the deputy the well-known salute.

The deputy switched on his blue lights and pulled the vehicle over.

The man told deputies he was sorry, but was late for work, the report said.

The suspect was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center Monday afternoon on charges of reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, no proof of vehicle registration, and having an open container in a motor vehicle. He was released a few hours later, according to the jail log.