Bluffton man arrested after he struck a girl with shopping cart at Hilton Head Walmart, police say
A 73-year-old Bluffton man was arrested Thursday evening after he allegedly hit a Hilton Head girl in the back with a shopping cart at the Hilton Head Walmart sending her to the hospital, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.
The girl’s dad told deputies he and his daughters were going down a shopping aisle when he heard one of them “make a noise as if she was in pain,” the report said.
He turned around and saw the suspect, “an elder gentleman,” yelling at his daughter, the report said. She told her dad the suspect had pushed a cart into her and her back hurt.
An employee who witnessed the incident told deputies the suspect was “extremely angry, loud, and didn’t stop with the cart,” the report said.
The suspect said the girl “backed into his cart” and he “felt very upset due to apologizing to the girl but she never apologized back to him,” the report said.
The suspect was arrested and charged with third-degree assault and battery due to the severity of the girl’s injuries, the deputy wrote in the report.
He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center on Thursday night and remained incarcerated Friday afternoon, according to the jail log.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers do not typically name those charged with misdemeanor crimes unless that are in a position of authority or public trust.
This story was originally published April 5, 2019 at 3:33 PM.
