Crime & Public Safety

Burton man arrested, charged with aiming assault rifle at 2 men outside hotel, police say

A Burton man was arrested Friday after claims that he pointed an “AK-47 type rifle” at two men in the parking lot of Beaufort’s Comfort Suites hotel.

Marvin Huggins, 34, has been charged with first-degree assault and battery, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, unlawful carrying of a pistol and two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm.

According to a report from Beaufort Police Department, Officer Edgar Snyder responded to a weapons report at the Comfort Suites on Big John Road shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday.

Two men there told Snyder that a man pointed an AK-47 at them and had driven to the other side of the hotel.

According to the report, hotel security footage “clearly” showed Huggins “approaching the victims’ vehicle, backing his silver in color Cadillac up, and walking back to the victims’ vehicle with an AK-47 type rifle, then pointing the rifle at the victims as they left the parking lot of the hotel.”

Snyder found Huggins outside of the hotel making a phone call and arrested him, pointing a taser at Huggins after he tried to enter the hotel instead of following commands to move toward the front of his car and show his hands.

He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center around 1 a.m. Friday and was released Monday on a $25,000 surety bond.

When we publish mugshots

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances:

  • In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested
  • In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety
  • In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims

Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that don’t meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot.

Rachel Jones
The Island Packet
Rachel Jones covers education for the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has worked for the Daily Tar Heel and Charlotte Observer. She has won awards from the South Carolina Press Association, Associated College Press and North Carolina College Media Association for feature writing and education reporting.
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