Police: 2 men arrested after brawl at Bluffton bar with gun-pointing, spitting, biting
Two men were arrested after a brawl at popular Bluffton bar Dec. 28 that included gun-pointing, spitting, and biting, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.
Both Sheriff’s Office deputies and Bluffton Police responded to Cheap Seats Tavern on Burnt Church Road around 11:30 p.m. after receiving a 911 call about a suspect pointing a gun at multiple people.
By the time law enforcement arrived, one suspect, a 30-year-old Burton man, had left the area while another suspect, a 32-year-old Bluffton man, was “slouched” over by a white van, the report said.
When the deputy approached the suspect next to the van, he appeared to slouch even lower as the deputy heard “what sounded like a metal object skipping across the parking lot pavement under the van.”
After detaining the suspect, the deputy searched under the van and discovered a black Smith and Wesson .40-caliber pistol with one round in the chamber and additional rounds in the magazine, the report said.
While interviewing witnesses and victims, a bouncer said the suspect who had left the scene was disrespecting the bartenders, so he told him to be respectful. Then, according to the police report, the suspect grabbed the bouncers shirt, ripped it, and spit on him. The bouncer put the suspect in a headlock, and then the suspect bit the bouncer’s left bicep, the report said.
As this was happening, the second suspect — who is reported to have thrown the gun under the van — put a gun to the bouncer’s head before hitting him with it, the report said.
Both suspects were arrested, one at the scene and the other nearby, where police found him after he ran. They were taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center and given trespass notices preventing them from returning to the bar.
The suspect accused of pointing the gun at the bouncer’s head was charged with possession of marijuana, pointing and presenting a firearm, unlawful carrying of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, resisting arrest, trafficking cocaine, two counts of possession of a control substance, and two counts of third-degree assault and battery, according to the jail log.
The second suspect was charged with public disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana, and third-degree assault and battery, the jail log says.
In November, The Island Packet reported about other recent crimes the Sheriff’s Office answered at Cheap Seats, including: a man pointing a gun at multiple people while he was trying to steal a woman’s purse, a woman being “ripped out” of her car by her hair and thrown to the ground by a group of females, and a safe with cash inside being stolen from the bar after it was closed for the night.
