Man blocks path of ‘frightened’ child in e-bike dispute in Beaufort Co., police say
A driver allegedly followed a young boy riding an electric bicycle on Lady’s Island and attempted to block the child’s path, according to a police report, marking another instance of the newly popular vehicles sparking intergenerational conflict within Beaufort County neighborhoods.
No arrests were made and the conflict was eventually resolved after county deputies responded May 18 to the Coosaw Point neighborhood, located in northern Lady’s Island near the southern shore of the Coosaw River.
The boy told police he was riding his e-bike through the neighborhood that afternoon when a stranger’s vehicle followed him and “briefly blocked his path in an attempt to stop him,” a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report says, describing the child as about 10 years old. The child became “frightened” and left in the opposite direction, according to the report.
A deputy spoke with the young boy, his father and the 67-year-old driver, noting in the report that the incident stemmed from “ongoing complaints” about children riding bicycles in the neighborhood and the driver “confronting children he believed were violating (homeowners association) rules” over gas-powered bikes.
The driver was “only attempting to speak with (the boy) regarding HOA rules,” he was documented telling deputies. The boy’s father told police his son was on an e-bike, which the father said are allowed in the private community, the report says.
Police noted that no crime was observed during their investigation into the neighborhood dispute. The report was written to document the ongoing complaints over e-bikes “and the possibility of future harassment-related incidents,” the document says.
E-bikes spark conflict across Beaufort County
The May 18 incident was at least the fourth instance in recent months of local police becoming involved in neighborhood disputes over e-bikes, which are street-legal in South Carolina and popular among local children.
Three days earlier, an 80-year-old man admitted to sparking a taser at a group of boys riding e-bikes in his Bluffton-area community, describing to police his “frustration” with children riding the street-legal bikes around the neighborhood. Relatives of one of the boys declined to press charges.
In early March, a mom in the Bluffton-area Heritage Lakes neighborhood told police her son’s e-bike tire was popped by a welded contraption of bent nails that she said appeared to have been planted on the community’s pathways by a neighbor who was disgruntled with e-bikes. No suspects were identified, but deputies submitted a dozen of the bent nails into evidence.
And in November in Bluffton’s Pine Ridge neighborhood, a 56-year-old man was arrested for allegedly drawing a gun on a 15-year-old boy riding an e-bike past his house, according to previous reporting. Speaking with police, he reportedly cited “ongoing issues” with neighborhood children riding e-bikes.
E-bikes’ increasing visibility on Beaufort County roadways has prompted questions about how to regulate electric bikes and prioritize safety. Hilton Head officials have already imposed rules about which classifications of the bikes are permitted on certain pathways, and multiple private communities have banned e-bikes outright.
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 3:38 PM.
