Bent nails popped a boy’s e-bike tire on Bluffton-area path. Was it malicious?
A dozen bent nails found on a Bluffton-area neighborhood pathway could have been maliciously placed by a neighbor who was disgruntled with local e-bike usage, a mother documented in a police report last week.
The mother in the Heritage Lakes community told police the nails had flattened a tire on her son’s e-bike March 3 as he rode around the neighborhood with his friends, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report filed two days later.
She handed over a sandwich bag containing the approximately 2-inch nails, according to the incident report. The deputy later entered it into evidence, noting that the nails appeared “purposely bent” so their sharp points would face upward — and some were connected by “small welding spots,” the report says.
The woman told police she wasn’t sure who could have placed the nails, but indicated “there may have been residents in the area who dislike the riding of e-bikes along the path,” the report says. She added that she’s concerned “the incident may escalate.”
Tensions surrounding usage of e-bikes
The incident highlights mounting tensions surrounding the local usage of motorized bikes, whose surge in popularity has prompted new rules and recommendations across Beaufort County.
After learning about the incident, the Heritage Lakes homeowners association sent an email to residents, advising them to be careful and to keep a lookout for other objects on the walking and biking paths, according to Manager Stacie Jacobs.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Jacobs told The Island Packet she had used a magnet roller on the paths in the days following the report and found two more nails. She said she wasn’t sure if the hazards were a “deliberate issue” or had ended up on the walkways by chance.
Jacobs said Heritage Lakes management receives some complaints about e-bike usage, including children riding the bikes on the wrong side of the street and leaving tire tracks on the neighborhood’s berms. Asked if the subdivision of about 250 homes had instituted its own e-bike guidelines, she said the HOA allows the vehicles on its pathways but asks users to steer clear of landscaping and beautification areas.
Heritage Lakes is a neighborhood of single-family homes located about a mile east of Bluffton town limits, according to the COAST Bluffton realty group.
The police report says the mother in Heritage Lakes wanted the incident reported “for documentation purposes only.” The case was closed on March 6, the document says.
In November, a man in Bluffton’s Pine Ridge community was charged with brandishing a handgun and threatening a boy as they argued about the group of kids riding e-bikes through the neighborhood, according to previous reporting. The 56-year-old reportedly told police he had “ongoing issues” with children riding e-bikes in front of his house.
E-bike guidelines in Beaufort County
In response to issues like battery fires and pedestrian deaths, communities nationwide have grappled with regulating e-bikes’ usage since sales of the bikes began soaring earlier this decade. Beaufort County is no different.
The Town of Hilton Head Island passed an ordinance in 2022 banning Class 3 e-bikes on its public pathways, and Beaufort’s Spanish Moss Trail only allows Class 1 e-bikes. Class 3 e-bikes allow pedal-assisted speeds of up to 28 mph, but motors in Class 1 and Class 2 bikes max out at 20 mph. None of the classifications require a license, registration or insurance in South Carolina, according to the Myrtle Beach-based Maguire Law Firm, although residents must be 16 years old to operate a Class 3 e-bike.
E-bikes are in the same category as traditional bicycles under state law, meaning they can be operated on roadways as long as riders follow existing traffic laws, Bluffton Mayor Larry Toomer wrote in a January column for The Bluffton Sun.
“Town staff and leaders are actively researching South Carolina law and best practices related to e-bikes to determine whether local guidance or future action may be appropriate,” Toomer wrote. “As use increases, our goal is safe coexistence for everyone using our roads and pathways.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 1:53 PM.
