Beaufort County pedestrian arrested after being hit by car, police say
A pedestrian who was struck by a car last week in a Beaufort County roadway was arrested for allegedly walking in the middle of the road and possessing cocaine, the sheriff’s office said.
King Maki Kight, a 19-year-old from Beaufort, was charged in the early morning hours of June 18 with pedestrians on highways and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, the latter of which is a felony, according to inmate records.
Deputies responded to the collision June 17 around 10 p.m. near the intersection of Bruce K Smalls Drive and Carolina Avenue, located about a mile from U.S. Highway 21 (Trask Parkway), according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
After approaching a driver using a flashlight to flag down first responders, police spotted the “clearly injured” man who had been hit in the collision, the incident report says. The man, later identified as Kight, was initially crawling on the roadway but then allegedly attempted to run away, police noted, while he repeatedly said he “didn’t do anything.”
Police eventually detained and handcuffed Kight, who confirmed he had been struck by a car, the report says. When medics asked if he remembered being hit, Kight reportedly said he “just remembered flying.” He allegedly became belligerent with police and was placed inside a patrol vehicle, according to the incident report.
In an interview with police, the husband of the driver who struck the pedestrian said he was following behind his wife when they both saw the pedestrian “in the middle of the road with a broom,” the report says. Although his wife swerved to avoid the pedestrian, the witness reportedly told police, the side of her sedan still struck Kight.
Police searched Kight’s backpack and allegedly found a small plastic bag with about 2.6 grams of a “white powdery rocklike substance” inside, which tested positive for cocaine, according to the incident report. Kight also allegedly told deputies he had “just finished smoking a blunt” and was listening to music when he was struck by the sedan, the report says.
Kight was charged with pedestrians on highways, a misdemeanor, due to him allegedly obstructing traffic by walking in the middle of Bruce K Smalls Drive, leading to a vehicle swerving to avoid him and “striking him with the side-view mirror,” police wrote in the report.
The incident report says Kight was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital for medical clearance before being booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center early the following morning.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol responded to handle the collision investigation, police noted in the report.
Kight was released from jail early Saturday afternoon, two days after his booking, according to a jail roster. Judicial records show he was granted a $5,000 surety bond for the cocaine charge.
