Police say Grays Hill man attacked woman with pocketknife after she rejected sexual advances
A man from Grays Hill faces felony assault charges for allegedly attacking a woman with a pocketknife in his home after she rejected his requests for sex, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Ronnie Fripp, 65, was charged early Tuesday morning with assault and battery in the first degree, jail records show.
Deputies were called around 2 a.m. Tuesday to Fripp’s home on Paradise Lane in Grays Hill, just north of Beaufort’s city limits. Fripp told officers he had invited a woman over to help her “stay out of the cold,” but while the two were in bed, the woman suddenly began attacking him. He claimed he hit the woman with a “hard object” to stop her, according to Maj. Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
But the woman had a different story. She told police that after she declined Fripp’s sexual advances, he became violent and attacked her with a pocketknife, according to Viens.
The woman’s injuries corroborated her story: Officers found a five-inch laceration on her back, which police believe came from the pocketknife. Fripp did not appear to have any physical injuries, Viens said.
In South Carolina, first-degree assault and battery is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Fripp’s usage of the pocketknife to assault the woman elevated the crime to a first-degree charge.
Fripp was released Tuesday on a $5,000 surety bond from the Beaufort County Detention Center, court records show.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 11:59 AM.
