Bluffton driver arrested for shooting at moving car in apparent road rage incident
A Bluffton man faces a number of felonies after allegedly firing a gun at a moving car on U.S. 278 during a rush-hour traffic dispute, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. The incident came one day after another vehicle was struck by gunfire while stopped at a traffic light in Port Royal.
Oscar Jimenez-Coronado, 26, was charged Friday with attempted murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, pointing and presenting a firearm, a felony gun possession offense, drug possession and driving under suspension, jail records show.
Beaufort County deputies responded around 7:45 a.m. Friday to Hilton Head BMW on Fording Island Road. The 28-year-old caller, who works at the dealership, told police the driver of a silver Chevy Camaro had shot at his car shortly after he unintentionally cut the driver off about 10 minutes before, according to a sheriff’s office incident report.
The Camaro then began flashing its lights and “driving closely behind him” before switching lanes so the two vehicles were “window-to-window,” the report says. The driver, who was later identified as Jimenez-Coronado, was “cussing and yelling” out of his open car window and appeared “very upset,” the caller said.
When both vehicles stopped at a red light near Burnt Church Road, Jimenez-Coronado reportedly exited his Camaro and approached the victim’s window, ordering him to “pull over” and “get out of the car.” The other driver kept his windows closed, he told police.
As the Camaro continued to follow the man, he saw the angry driver brandish a “black firearm” and point it at him, the report says. The caller told deputies he wasn’t worried at that point because he noted the pistol’s slide “was locked to the rear.”
The gunshot came as the man turned into the BMW dealership, he said, followed by a “ping” on the roof of his car. He immediately knew he had been shot at and quickly called 911, the report says.
Using live feeds from local traffic cameras, Beaufort County’s traffic management teams located the Camaro approaching the Windmill Harbor intersection near the entrance to Hilton Head Island. They notified deputies in the area, who arrested Jimenez-Coronado at the scene.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Jimenez-Coronado was being held at the Beaufort County Detention Center on surety bonds totaling $100,000, according to jail rosters.
Crimes fueled by road rage are far from uncommon in Beaufort County, local data shows. The sheriff’s office reported at least 10 such incidents in a yearlong period ending in May 2023, with most involving drivers flashing weapons at other travelers. A majority of the cases do not end in arrests, usually due to a lack of evidence or neither party wishing to pursue charges after a mutual altercation.
