Hilton Head restaurants’ co-owner charged with DUI after bicyclist severely injured

A Hilton Head Island man facing a felony DUI charge after allegedly hitting and injuring a bicyclist late Tuesday night was released on a $30,000 bond Wednesday afternoon, according to Beaufort County court records.

David Francis Reilley, 62, was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center at 4 a.m. Wednesday, according to the jail log.

Reilley is part of the Coastal Restaurant and Bars group, according to its website, which owns and operates eight restaurants on Hilton Head and one in Port Royal. Reilley co-owns Reilley’s North End Pub and Aunt Chilada’s Easy Street Cafe.

His brother Tom Reilley owns the Coastal Restaurant and Bars group and established the annual Hilton Head Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Two phone calls and two text messages to the restaurant group seeking comment were not returned.

The crash happened just before 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday on Marshland Road near Chisholm Place, South Carolina Highway Patrol spokesperson Cpl. Matt Southern said Wednesday morning.

The bicyclist, a 28-year-old North Carolina man, had life-threatening injuries and was taken to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah by helicopter, said Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue spokesperson Joheida Fister.

Details on the man’s injuries and status were not immediately available Wednesday afternoon.

Beaufort County deputy coroner David Ott said Thursday morning there was no record of a death of a bicyclist on Marshland Road Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Reilley faces a felony charge of driving under the influence because the accident caused great bodily injury to the bicyclist, Southern said.

South Carolina law defines “great bodily injury” as an injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss of or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 9:28 AM.