Man says his family owns half of Hilton Head, police say. He was arrested anyway

A Hilton Head Island man was arrested after refusing to leave a bar and running away from deputies, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The incident occurred about 12:45 a.m. Saturday at the Black Marlin Hurricane Bar on Helmsman Way, the report said.

Deputies received a call about an intoxicated man who was refusing to leave the bar, the report said.

One of the employees told the deputy the man had been kicked out of the bar last month for being “grossly intoxicated and causing an issue,” the report said.

A deputy saw the man sitting at the bar using profanity toward people with his dog “wandering around” without a leash on, the report said.

As they walked toward him, he got up from his seat and began walking around the bar to get away from the deputy, the report said. The deputy followed him and told him to stop, but he walked faster and faster until he eventually ran out of the bar.

The deputy ran after the man, grabbed his left shoulder, and the two fell into the bushes, the report said. The man swung his arms. While handcuffing the man, his dog bit the deputy’s forearm, the report said.

The man told deputies, “he has lived here for 30 years and his family owns half of Hilton Head,” the report said.

The man was charged with public disorderly conduct, loitering, and having an animal at large, according to the Beaufort County Detention Center jail log.

He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center at 1:32 a.m. Saturday and released later that day, according to the jail log.

Someone picked the dog up and took it to the man’s home, the report said.

The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette do not name those charged with misdemeanor crimes unless they are in a position of public trust or authority in the community.

This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 4:04 PM.