Beaufort man charged with kidnapping and assault after incident with stranger, report says

A Beaufort man has been arrested on charges of felony kidnapping and second degree assault after he was accused of attacking a woman he didn’t know, jail logs and police reports show.

Osotonu Leo Tanielu, 36, of Beaufort was arrested by Beaufort Police Department Tuesday. He remained in Beaufort County Detention Center Thursday on a bond of $50,000.

On June 11, a woman told police that she let a neighbor borrow her car for the day. The neighbor didn’t return the car, so she went to the person’s house on Center Drive West that night.

Tanielu, whom she didn’t know, was at the house when she arrived. When she asked her neighbor to return the vehicle, Tanielu got in her face and told her “she wasn’t getting the car back,” according to the report.

He then slammed her to ground and started choking her, the report says. She tried to get away, according to the police report, but Tanielu wouldn’t let her.

An officer saw injuries on the woman’s arm and hand, the report says.

Tanielu has been convicted of a string of violent crimes, including a 2005 assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 4:26 PM.