Woman used iPhone feature to survive random attack in Bluffton parking lot, cops say
A Hilton Head Island woman told police she was attacked by a stranger in a local Walmart parking lot after he followed behind her car on a Bluffton highway. The assault only ended after she utilized a little-known emergency feature on her smartphone, she said.
Deputies responded around 2:30 p.m. Saturday to the Walmart at 4 Bluffton Road, finding the 28-year-old victim with a scar on her lip from being punched in the face. She declined to be taken to the hospital or treated by EMS crews due to the minimal bleeding from her injury, according to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman told deputies she had been on her way to work and was planning to stop at Walmart when she noticed a black Volkswagen “driving close to the rear of her vehicle.” She assumed she was going too slow and shifted lanes, the report says, but the car followed her into the other lane and continued to tailgate her. The driver soon began honking his horn, she said.
Not finding a space in the Walmart parking lot, the woman said, she pulled into a “back street” behind Walmart and Sam’s Club, thinking she had thrown the Volkswagen off her trail. But the suspect then walked up to her car, opened the door and attempted to get her out of the vehicle, punching her in the face in the process, the police report says.
The woman quickly made an “Emergency SOS” call on her iPhone by holding down the power button and one volume button at the same time. The man fled the scene after he saw emergency personnel being contacted, she told police.
A number of cars passed the woman during the brief struggle, she said, “but no one stopped to help.” A Beaufort County deputy later noted there were not any visible cameras in the area of the assault.
Police had not identified a suspect as of Wednesday, according to Master Sgt. Bob Herlong of the BCSO. If apprehended, the man would be charged with assault and possibly additional offenses for opening the woman’s car door, Herlong said.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM.
