Police offered a pedestrian a ride. What he was carrying in his pocket sent him to jail

Deputies offered a Bluffton man walking on a Hilton Head Island bridge a ride to where he was going, but his final destination ended up being jail, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The man was charged with receiving stolen goods Tuesday after deputies found a Taser stolen out of a Bluffton Police Department patrol car more than two weeks ago in his pocket, the report said.

Deputies spotted the man crossing the traffic-filled bridge and offered him a ride, the report said. When they told him he’d have to be checked for weapons before he could get into the patrol car, he let them know he had a box cutter and handed it over, the report said.

Then, as he was being pat down, his movements became “erratic” and he said he had a “toy gun” in his pocket, the report said. He was placed in handcuffs then admitted the “toy gun” was actually a Taser.

Deputies found a black Taser with a loaded cartridge and battery in the man’s front pocket and later discovered it was the one that had been stolen from the Bluffton Police Department, the report said.

He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday and was released Wednesday afternoon, according to the jail log.

The Taser was returned to Bluffton Police, the report said.