Hilton Head man charged with killing bicyclist was free on bond at the time, records say

The Hilton Head Island man charged with killing a bicyclist Saturday in a hit-and-run incident had been released on bond in connection with two traffic charges and a domestic violence charge just five days earlier, according to jail records.

Jiovaani Aranza Gallegos, 28, was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center after the fatal crash Saturday and was still confined as of Tuesday morning. He faces charges including hit-and-run involving death and driving under suspension, the jail log said. His current bond is listed as $51,270.

Officers responded to New Orleans Road near Pensacola Place just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday and found a man dead in the road and a damaged bicycle nearby, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Capt. Bob Bromage told The Island Packet on Saturday.

Luis Cabrera Lorenzana, 66, of Hilton Head, was struck from behind by a 2008 Honda Odyssey driven by Gallegos at about 5 a.m., South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. David Jones said. Gallegos drove away but was later found by Sheriff’s Office deputies, Jones said.

Lorenzana’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, Beaufort County Deputy Coroner Debbie Youmans said Tuesday morning.

On August 23, Gallegos was arrested and faced habitual traffic offender, driving under suspension, and third degree domestic violence charges after an argument that started at an island restaurant turned violent on the drive home, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

Gallegos was fighting with his girlfriend inside the restaurant before he took her outside and forced her into his truck, the report said. There he threatened her, punched her, and threw her purse out of the window, the report said. Once home, he began throwing dishes and food.

Gallegos was booked into the detention center about 3:15 a.m. August 23 and released on a $11,500 bond the evening of August 27 — five days before he allegedly hit and killed Lorenzana.

The Island Packet submitted a open-records request Tuesday morning for all incident reports filed by the Sheriff’s Office involving Gallegos.

Saturday’s incident is at least the fourth time a bicyclist was struck and seriously injured or killed on Hilton Head since 2016.

That list includes an incident Aug. 21 in which a 28-year-old North Carolina man on a bicycle was hit by a vehicle and seriously injured on Marshland Road. Hilton Head restaurant owner David Frances Reilley faces a felony DUI charge related to that collision, the Highway Patrol said. Reilley was freed on $30,000 bond Aug. 23.