Hilton Head tourist stopped because of tiny dog, not racial profiling, investigation says

A tourist who said she was followed by a security officer for over a quarter of a mile and racially profiled was unknowingly caught in the crossfire between two feuding neighborhoods when she was stopped and questioned Sept. 28, according to the summary of a 60-page internal investigation by Indigo Run.

Annette Brown was renting a home in The Owners Club, a neighborhood with a number of timeshares, that’s inside another gated residential community, The Broad Pointe. Located off Marshland Road, Broad Pointe is within the gates of Indigo Run.

The two communities have gone back and forth over policies that were created to make sure residents and guests remain in their respective communities, the investigation says.

When a security officer approached her, Brown was riding her bike with Posh, her Shih Tzu, in the basket on Owners Club property.

Although Hilton Head is notoriously pet-friendly, Owners Club rules make it “pet free” because, according to the investigation, residents “do not want Broad Pointe owners walking their dogs within The Owners Club” or trespassing on club property. The Owners Club allows service animals.

The investigation says the pet-free policy is a source of “ongoing tension” between the two communities, and that Broad Pointe doesn’t allow Owners Club residents to use its common spaces such as streets and pathways.

On Sept. 28, Brown said a truck marked “Indigo Run Security” pulled up next to her. The officer inside asked if she lived there. Brown said she did not, and that she was on vacation. The truck then drove away, Brown said.

After the incident, she said she asked a white couple biking across the street if they had been stopped. They said “no,” she said.

Brown made a formal complaint the next day.

Roger Heaton, Indigo Run’s chief of security, opened an investigation into the incident Oct. 2. Heaton interviewed six people, including Brown and the unnamed security officer, the investigation said.

The investigation concluded there was no evidence of racial profiling, but rather a “contextual misunderstanding” of the history of trespassing and pet policies between the neighborhoods.

The investigation says the officer decided to start following Brown because she “didn’t appear to be heading to any particular cottage, and was looking at vehicles and the nearly identical cottages” as she rode the bike.

Brown disputes that claim.

She said the officer would have no way of knowing what she was looking at when following her from behind, and that looking around while riding a bike is normal behavior.

The investigation also says the officer questioned Brown to determine if she was a Broad Pointe resident who was trespassing and bringing a dog into the Owners Club community.

“The Indigo Run Security officer had no way of knowing ahead of time that 1) Ms. Brown was a guest of The Owners Club, and 2) that she had permission to keep her emotional support animal in The Owners Club,” the investigation says.

Brown said the dog is a registered service animal, not an emotional support animal, and that the officer never mentioned her dog when he questioned her.

“If there was an issue with the pet policy like they say in the investigation, then why didn’t he say anything about the dog after I said I was on vacation?” Brown asked.

Chip Munday, the general manager of Indigo Run, said the officer did not press Brown about her dog after learning where she was vacationing because Indigo Run does not manage The Owners Club — ClubCorp does.

However, Indigo Run does manage security for neighboring Broad Pointe, which shares a gate with The Owners Club.

Brown is African American. Munday declined to release the race of the officer involved because he said it was “immaterial” to the incident.

But the investigation did specifically mention diversity on the Indigo Run security force. It says “our department is highly diverse (6 African-American, 3 Latino, 3 Caucasian, and 4 women).“

Indigo Run’s investigation says the officer did not properly identify himself or his reason for questioning Brown, and that “increased education” for officers on guest interaction is “necessary.”

Munday said that the officer will not face disciplinary action because “he did not do anything wrong.”

The investigation also says Indigo Run may equip officers with body cameras and audio recording devices, which could help clarify “events and interpretations” in the future.

Brown said she questions why the officer did not mention the pet policy during the incident if that was the reason for the stop.

She said her dog wears a service animal identification vest at all times.

She still contends she was racially profiled, regardless of the investigation’s findings.

“I’m not angry. It’s really not a surprise that this is their finding,” Brown said. “No community wants to admit that they have racial issues.”

She said the situation has left her hurt and disappointed.

“This is the black experience in this country— this is ... how we feel on a daily basis,” Brown said.

This story was originally published October 9, 2018 at 3:55 PM.