Government critic Skip Hoagland, 4 others injured Friday night in Jasper County wreck
Longtime government critic Calvin Coral “Skip” Hoagland and four other people were taken to the hospital Friday evening after a car wreck along U.S. 321 near Tillman in Jasper County, according to a S.C. Highway Patrol spokesperson.
Hoagland was driving south on U.S. 321 when his 2017 Honda collided with a 2020 Kia traveling north near Purrysburg Road around 6:45 p.m., said Lance Cpl. Nicholas Pye.
Four people were inside the Kia. Hoagland was the only person in his vehicle. All five people were taken to the hospital with “non-incapacitating injuries,” Pye said.
Hoagland’s vehicle was towed from the crash scene at 8:45 p.m. Friday, according to a S.C. Highway Patrol tow receipt.
The crash is still under investigation, Pye said.
Called Monday afternoon, Hoagland said he was released from the hospital around midnight Saturday morning. He said he has a compressed fracture in his third lumbar spine vertebra.
Hoagland said he did not know the extent of the injuries of the four people in the other car.
He said he was contemplating a lawsuit against the S.C. Department of Transportation.
“There seems to be a lot of injuries and a lot of people killed along this highway,” he said. “We need to stop the carnage.”
Hoagland, a part-time Hilton Head Island resident, is well known in local government circles.
For years he has regularly attended Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort County meetings and criticized leaders for their perceived lack of transparency as well as their involvement with the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.
In a 2019 Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette letter to the editor, Hoagland said he had devoted his retirement to “exposing local corruption.”
“While I am aware my criticism may seem harsh at times, it is for good reason, and trust me, it is not nearly as bad as the corruption I expose,” he wrote. “Let’s all stop attacking on opinions, and present facts. The best way to get rid of me is to stop public wrongdoing.”
While his behavior at meetings has received some support from members of the public, it’s also landed him in legal trouble.
Last year, Hoagland was found in criminal and civil contempt by a Beaufort County judge, fined and sentenced to community service for violating a gag order related to a 2015 lawsuit brought by a former Hilton Head town council member.
Kim Likins, the council member, said Hoagland called her boss at the Boys & Girls Club and told its leaders there she was unfit to be working around children. He disagreed with a series of her decisions on the Town Council.
The case, which went to trial in March 2020, ended abruptly when Likins received a settlement in a related case against Hoagland’s insurance company and dropped her libel charges.
Hoagland has had numerous other run-ins with local government leaders, most recently with Hilton Head’s Tom Lennox and Beaufort County’s Stu Rodman.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 5:51 PM.
