Bluffton business owner charged with felony DUI after 5 hospitalized in 278 crash, police say
A Bluffton businesswoman has been charged with four counts of felony DUI six days after she was the “driver at fault” in a crash on U.S. 278 that injured five people, according to Bluffton Police.
Michelle Lynn Pearson, 51, was re-arrested Monday morning by Bluffton Police officers, according to the Beaufort County jail log.
Capt. Joe Babkiewicz, Bluffton Police Department spokesperson, said the additional DUI charges involving “great bodily injury” were filed after further investigation and police “finding more information about the injuries involved in the accident.”
The crash occurred at the intersection of U.S 278 and Buck Island Road just before 11 p.m. March 12, according to a police report.
Capt. Lee Levesque, spokesperson for the Bluffton Township Fire District, told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette after the accident that five people were hospitalized with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
Babkiewicz said the condition of those injured was not available on Monday.
Police referred to Pearson as the “driver at fault” and claimed she “smelled of alcohol, had glassy and bloodshot eyes, and was slurring her words,” according to the report.
At first she told police that she had not been drinking but eventually “admitted to drinking at a bar after an event she had for work,” the report alleges.
Pearson was arrested after failing several sobriety tests, according to the Bluffton Police. She originally was charged with driving under the influence, a misdemeanor offense, and was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center for less than 12 hours before she was released early Wednesday.
She wasn’t named in previous reporting about the accident because The Island Packet does not name those charged with a misdemeanor unless they are in a position of public trust or authority in the community.
Pearson owns Interior Motives Inc., an interior design firm in Bluffton, according to her company’s website.
If convicted of a felony DUI causing great bodily harm, Pearson could face up to 15 years in prison for each count, according to South Carolina law.
This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 5:04 PM.