Charges dropped against Hilton Head man accused of threatening family member with gun
Prosecutors dropped charges against a Hilton Head Island man accused of choking a family member and pointing a gun at them over a child care dispute in December 2019.
14th Judicial Circuit Assistant Solicitor Mary Lempesis dropped two charges against Dwayne Gibbs, 24, of Hilton Head on Thursday. They include one count of pointing and presenting a firearm and one count of assault and battery in the second degree.
Lempesis wrote on dismissal documents that the victim is no longer cooperating with prosecutors in the case, so the office was forced to drop the charges.
On the night of Nov. 28, 2019, an argument erupted between Gibbs and a family member after they briefly left Gibbs’ children alone at a home on Hilton Head, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bob Bromage.
Gibbs began beating, then choking the family member, Bromage said. After the person and another person there tried to leave, Gibbs pointed a gun at them both.
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The family member called 911, and deputies arrived around 9 p.m. Gibbs left prior to their arrival, according to Bromage.
After warrants were obtained, he turned himself in a few weeks later.
Gibbs is still facing charges in other cases from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
In May, deputies stopped Gibbs while he was driving near St. Paul’s Church Road in Burton. According to Bromage, a search yielded a 9mm handgun underneath the passenger seat, and an off-white baggie found in Gibbs’ pants was cocaine, according to a field test.
He was arrested and faces charges of unlawful carrying of a pistol, possession of a weapon by a felon, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
