Man who hit Beaufort Co. sledders was ‘heavily intoxicated,’ witness told trooper
Witnesses told police a Beaufort man appeared to have intentionally run over his fiancée and her daughter as they sledded in a snowy Port Royal-area roadway in late January, according to police testimony in the case’s first hearing.
Richard Quinn Davidson Jr., 46, was not present at the preliminary hearing Friday morning. His charges, two counts each of felony driving under the influence and felony hit-and-run, were bound up to general sessions court by Beaufort County Magistrate Judge Bernard McIntyre.
State troopers accused Davidson of fleeing the scene after striking and seriously injuring the two women, 47 and 20, who were in the roadway on a makeshift sled after being pulled by another truck around 8 p.m. on Jan. 31. Police arrested him several hours later at his home — only about five houses away from the collision site in the Shell Point area — and found him to have a blood alcohol content nearly two times the legal limit, Senior Trooper Kaitlyn Nobles of the South Carolina Highway Patrol testified.
The driver who had been pulling the sledders told police that the group of four — himself, Davidson and the two women — had been together all day before the incident, according to the trooper’s testimony. The driver said Davidson was “heavily intoxicated” that night, Nobles added.
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Trooper details collision, sledders’ injuries
Nobles on Friday testified she arrived at Shell Point Road to find two women lying in the roadway “with obvious injuries” and being treated by medics. Both were taken by ambulance to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, she said.
The trooper said she then spoke with the driver of a Chevy Avalanche that was stopped nearby. That driver told Nobles that he was engaged to the 20-year-old sledder who had been hit. He had been pulling his fiancée and her mother on a “makeshift sled” around Shell Point Road shortly before the hit-and-run, he told Nobles.
As he prepared to turned around after the sled “detached” from the pickup truck, he told Nobles, he passed Davidson — who was engaged to the 47-year-old sledder — driving in the sledders’ direction in a silver Dodge Ram.
“Hey, I’ve got them,” Davidson told the other driver, according to Nobles’ testimony. The Avalanche driver believed this meant Davidson would help the sledders, the trooper testified, but when the driver turned around moments later, he saw the two women lying injured in the roadway. He rushed over to help them, Nobles said Friday.
A sheriff’s office report said the sledders’ injuries included a fractured skull, punctured lung, broken ribs, several broken vertebrae and a dislocated shoulder. Nobles, who spoke with the women during their hospital stay, said the 47-year-old victim “had tire marks across her whole chest and stomach” and was later taken to Charleston’s Medical University of South Carolina for further treatment.
Witness said crash appeared intentional
Two witnesses who called 911 said they were outside grilling when the hit-and-run happened, according to Nobles’ testimony on Friday. She testified that both witnesses told police the same version of events: Davidson’s Ram truck was heading east on Shell Point Road when it performed a burnout, drove straight forward and struck both sledders.
Asked if the truck seemed to have lost control, both witnesses said it appeared the driver was in control of the vehicle and “intentionally” drove into the women, Nobles testified.
The witnesses said Davidson initially drove away but returned shortly after, according to Nobles’ testimony. Davidson exited the truck and allegedly asked the women, “Why were you in the road?” before reentering the Ram, reversing and leaving the scene again.
Alexa Casavecchia of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who served as the state’s attorney during Friday’s preliminary hearings, asked what the trooper meant by Davidson executing a “burnout.”
“I believe he was just ... maybe playing, for lack of better terms, in the snow,” Nobles answered, adding that witnesses did not provide estimates of the truck’s speed at the time. “He claimed he lost control of the vehicle after that, striking the pedestrians. According to the witnesses, though, that’s not the case.”
Davidson took a breathalyzer, which showed him to have a .14 blood alcohol concentration after being detained, Nobles testified. The BAC legal limit in South Carolina is .08. The SCHP obtained a warrant for a blood sample from Davidson but were still awaiting the results of its analysis, she added.
Nobles said Davidson’s truck was turned over to SCHP’s Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team, whose investigators were involved in the case. MAIT personnel conduct in-depth crash investigations and are skilled in collision reconstruction, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety.
Police surround home of alleged hit-and-run driver
Observing the Ram truck outside Davidson’s residence down the road, Nobles testified Friday, SCHP troopers and Beaufort County deputies surrounded the home. Although they observed movement inside, Davidson did not answer police at the door, she said.
Officers later reached Davidson by phone, Nobles testified, but he “refused to provide information.” He was apprehended and detained after police “issued several PA announcements” ordering him to come outside, she said.
While speaking with police, Davidson confessed to striking the pedestrians and fleeing because he was “scared,” Nobles testified. He smelled strongly of alcohol and admitted to drinking both before and after the hit-and-run, the trooper testified.
Inmate records show Davidson was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center just before 2 a.m. on Feb. 1, about six hours after the collision.
William Bryant, a public defender representing Davidson, scrutinized the results of both alcohol tests by emphasizing the several-hour gap between the collision and the suspect’s apprehension. Davidson told officers he continued drinking inside his home after the hit-and-run, Nobles had testified.
“If he drank after the incident, could that have affected his blood alcohol at the DataMaster test? ... And the blood test?” Bryant asked. Nobles responded affirmatively to both questions.
Davidson was released from jail the afternoon of Feb. 1 on personal recognizance bonds totaling $60,000, meaning he would not be required to pay the amount unless he violated court conditions.
His felony DUI charge is punishable by a prison sentence between 30 days and 15 years and a fine between $5,100 and $10,100, according to S.C. law. For a conviction of felony hit-and-run involving great bodily injury, state statutes call for a prison term between 30 days and 10 years and a fine between $5,000 and $10,000.
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 5:15 PM.
